On August 3rd, the upcoming Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings series Tweeted a wrap post thanking the show's three directors, sharing images of each and setting fans' minds wandering as to how they will make their mark on the series. Developed by J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video, the upcoming series will be inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkien novels, but take place in the Second Age, the age chronologically before the events of The Lord of the Rings books.
Amazon bought the television rights for the books in November 2017 for $250 million. It's already on track to becoming the most expensive television show ever made, but the studio has kept the series' plot and characters mostly under wraps. While Peter Jackson, director of the Academy Award-winning and box office-dominating film trilogy based on the books, will have no direct involvement, the series still shot in New Zealand and will reportedly not stray much from the visual conceptualization of Middle-Earth as depicted in those films. While that's a strong visual template to follow, any fan of television knows a lot of the look and feel of a show comes down to its directors, not just its extensive Lord of the Rings cast of characters.
The eight episodes of the first season of the series have been divided between three directors: J. A. Bayona, Wayne Che Yip, and Charlotte Brändström. Already, showrunners Payne and McKay seem to have made a commitment to a diverse team of filmmakers, and given the epic scope, it's expected each of these artists will put their own stamp on the material, just as someone like Miguel Sapochnik did for Game of Thrones' signature battle sequences. Just how they each will make their mark remains to be seen, but their past work can give a clue as to what audiences can expect.
The first two episodes of the series will be helmed by Spanish director J. A. Bayona. A mentee of Guillermo del Toro, he's no stranger to translating the fantastical to the screen. Most recently, he directed the Isla Nublar-destroying Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but he's also lent his hand to the 2007 horror film The Orphanage and to 2016's fantasy drama A Monster Calls. With all three, he brought a distinctly Gothic sensibility and a distinct handling of visual effects that will fit magnificently with the textured world-building of Middle-Earth. He's also a phenomenal director of performances, with his film The Impossible garnering an Oscar nomination for Naomi Watts. His sure-footed but unique visual sensibility, combined with that penchant for working with actors, should set the tone well for this new take on Tolkien's world.
The filmmaker taking on the most responsibilities during the first season is Wayne Che Yip, who's directing four episodes. While Bayona brings big-screen pedigree to the project, Yip is a prolific director of television, with several episodes of Doctor Who, in which Jodie Whittaker will soon be replaced, under his belt. In addition, he's helmed hours of Salem, Preacher, Into the Badlands, Happy, Doom Patrol, and Hunters. Perhaps most intriguingly, he has directed the third and fourth episodes of the upcoming The Wheel of Time series on Amazon. Payne and McKay are clearly placing a lot of trust in Yip, giving him such a heavy episode load, but from the sheer amount of experience he's amassed, combined with his clear interest in epic fantasy, it seems like that trust will pay off.
Another dyed-in-the-wool television director, Brändström is a Swedish-French filmmaker with TV credits stretching back to the '90s. While most of these are French productions, she's recently broken through in America. Similar to Yip and Bayona, she's also got a lot of experience in the world of epic fantasy, directing two episodes each for Outlander and The Witcher, with a second season will include Vesemir. In keeping with the epic scope and emotional intimacy of Peter Jackson's work on the Lord of the Rings films, Payne and McKay seem to be prioritizing artists with equal experience with the expansive and the intimate, and Brändström feels like no exception.
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