The Lord of the Rings is hitting the small screen in the fall of 2022. Currently in development at Amazon Studios, the upcoming series will officially premiere on Amazon Prime on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, airing in 240 territories around the world. It had previously been unclear when the series would premiere due to the pandemic affecting production, but fans now have a date to put on the board for Amazon's Lord of the Rings TV show.

Additionally, an official first look photo has also been unveiled by Amazon. The image is said to be from the show's premiere episode, but no details were provided about the actor or character that's shown in the foreground. We also get a tease of the impressive world that will be explored in the series, which has cost Amazon around $465 million to produce for the first season alone. This makes Lord of the Rings the most expensive TV series of all time. Despite the costs, Amazon has already committed to multiple seasons.

"As Bilbo says, 'Now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey,'" said showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay in a statement. "Living and breathing Middle-earth these many months has been the adventure of a lifetime. We cannot wait for fans to have the chance to do so as well."

"I can't express enough just how excited we all are to take our global audience on a new and epic journey through Middle-earth!" added Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke. "Our talented producers, cast, creative, and production teams have worked tirelessly in New Zealand to bring this untold and awe-inspiring vision to life."

Amazon's Lord of the Rings stars Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.

The official description for the series reads: "The Lord of the Rings brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien's pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone."

Lord of the Rings will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. This news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.