"Huge Missed Opportunity for New Zealand": Shooting of "The Lord of the Rings" Series Relocated

The film crews found out 20 minutes before the others.

The second season of the world's biggest budget series “

Lord of the Rings

x” will be relocated from New Zealand to Great Britain, US giant Amazon has announced.

A severe blow to the economy of this country.

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The country was looking forward to hosting the filming of several seasons of the series, hoping it would help make New Zealand one of the world leaders in the film industry, especially in digital special effects.

For its part, the tourism sector was banking on this series to relaunch activity once the page of the coronavirus has definitively turned.

The famous film trilogy of the New Zealand director, shot entirely in the archipelago, had sparked a real tourist boom in the country.

Before the pandemic, each year, millions of tourists went there to discover the splendid landscapes of "

Middle-earth

", imaginary theater of the "

Hobbit

" and "

Lord of the Rings

", inspired by the work of Tolkien.

Wooden door characteristic of the village of the hobbits, one of the peoples who inhabit the universe of the lord of the rings ANDBZ / ABACA

But as filming for the first season has just wrapped up and the premiere is slated for September 2022, Amazon has announced that filming for the next season will be set in Britain.

“

We want to thank the people of New Zealand and the government ... for giving The Lord of the Rings series an amazing place to begin this epic journey

,” said Vernon Sanders, vice president of Amazon Studios.

The New Zealand Minister of Economic Development, Stuart Nash, who had offered Amazon substantial aid to stay, said he was "

disappointed

" while stressing that the film industry is "

incredibly competitive and very mobile

".

Amazon spent 660 million New Zealand dollars (358 million euros) in New Zealand to shoot a series capable of matching the success of

HBO's

"

Games of Thrones

", recalled The Minister.

The government was to reimburse 25% of this budget, but this percentage will be reduced to 20% due to the relocation of the filming.

Amazon said the move is part of its expansion strategy in Great Britain, where many of its productions are already shot.

The series, which does not yet have a name, chronicles intrigues that take place in the fantastic realm of the universe created in the 1930s by British writer JRR Tolkien, at a time well before that depicted in the trilogy. by Peter Jackson.

New Zealanders now see Middle-earth as part of their culture.

"

This is a huge missed opportunity for New Zealand,

" said opposition spokesman Todd McClay.

The misfortune of some makes the happiness of others.

Oliver Dowden, Secretary of State for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of Great Britain, said he was very happy to receive Amazon for the filming of the season to come.

Tweet from UK Culture Minister Oliver Dowden.

@OliverDowden