History met fantasy in Hollywood today, as one of the city’s oldest studios – Culver Studios, where iconic films like Gone with the Wind and King Kong were filmed – played host to premiere of the latest prestige streaming series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
With a price tag of half a billion dollars, the Amazon series is the most expensive show in television history, a title it has wrested from two fairly recent claimants: the Netflix streaming drama The Crown and Baz Luhrmann’s music history series The Get Down.
Australian stars Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin and Sara Zwangobani at the premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power at Culver Studios in LA. Credit:AP
Hitting the red carpet in Los Angeles today were the four Australian stars of The Rings of Power, Markella Kavenagh, Sara Zwangobani, Charlie Vickers and Tyroe Muhafidin. They were joined by the show’s other stars, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Robert Aramayo and Morfydd Clark, and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
The series serves as a prequel to the popular film franchise and is set thousands of years before J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork The Lord of the Rings. Kavenagh plays a hobbit-like “harfoot” named Elanor Brandyfoot, whose inclination for adventure kicks off the 10-part first season of the show.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with Lauren Sanchez at the premiere.Credit:AP
Zwangobani plays Elanor’s mother, Marigold Brandyfoot. Muhafidin plays Theo, the son of a human healer, and Vickers plays Halbrand, a human whose destiny is entwined with that of Galadriel (Clark), the future elf queen, who was one of the central characters in Tolkien’s works and was played by Cate Blanchett in the films.
Speaking on the red carpet, Kavenagh said she was excited for the audience to see the end result of almost two years work for the cast and crew.
“I can’t wait for people to see the passion and the dedication the cast and crew put into everything that is on the screen,” she said. “I can’t wait for it all to connect with the audience.”
The show’s director J.A. Bayona said he was feeling nervous about showing the first two episodes to an opening night audience ahead of the show’s streaming premiere next month.
“When you’re working on a show you never think about this day,” Bayona said.
Other VIPs in attendance included the head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke, Upload star Allegra Edwards, Stranger Things’ Dacre Montgomery, Australian actor Luke Mitchell and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The story of the series takes place in what is referred to as “the second age” of Middle-earth, the setting for Tolkien’s iconic novels The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Silmarillion.
It will chronicle the rise of Sauron, the “dark lord” who later returns as the principal villain in The Lord of the Rings. In The Rings of Power, Sauron is involved in the manufacturing of the eponymous magical rings, and the “one ring”, whose power to corrupt will cast a shadow across Middle-earth.
The premiere episode that was screened to guests was written by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, and directed by Bayona. The other episodes of the first season were directed by British director Wayne Che Yip and Swedish director Charlotte Brandstrom.
Filming for The Rings of Powers lasted almost two years, with production commencing in January 2020, and wrapping in August 2021. The first season will showcase a number of story locations never seen before in Tolkien adaptations, including the elven city of Lindon and the kingdom of Numenor.
Culver Studio is one of the most iconic settings in Hollywood, and has at various times been known as either the DeMille Studios, Pathé Studios, RKO-Pathé Studios and Desilu-Culver Studios. Several years ago streaming giant Amazon moved onto the site, taking control of around half a million square feet of space.
The studio’s most famous landmark is a 1918-built Colonial-style mansion in the style of George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Amazon Prime Video on September 2.
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