New Lord of the Rings prequel TV series to be filmed in Scotland

A new Lord of the Rings television series is to be filmed in Scotland, with locations in Skye, Perthshire and Loch Lomond tipped as potential spots for the production.
Skye, Perthshire and Loch Lomond are tipped as potential filming spots for the new Lord of the Rings television seriesSkye, Perthshire and Loch Lomond are tipped as potential filming spots for the new Lord of the Rings television series
Skye, Perthshire and Loch Lomond are tipped as potential filming spots for the new Lord of the Rings television series

Scouts from Amazon Studios posed as tourists while visiting locations around Scotland last summer, with staff visiting the likes of Dunskey Castle, Portpatrick, Scourie, Callander and Balloch Castle Country Park.

A £1 billion production

The new series is due to begin filming this year, with hopes that it will be broadcast by 2021. The hotly anticipated JRR Tolkien adaptation has a budget of £1 billion - the biggest in TV history.

There have been speculations on fan sites that the series will follow the life of Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings filmsThere have been speculations on fan sites that the series will follow the life of Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings films
There have been speculations on fan sites that the series will follow the life of Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings films
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Amazon paid £200 million for the global rights to Lord of the Rings and will produce the series with the help of the Tolkien Estate and Trust, book publishers Harper Collins and New Line Cinema.

Head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke, confirmed that a deal for the television series had been struck in June last year, and was reported as saying that it would be in production within two years.

The studios are also reportedly working on "one big series" as opposed to multiple instalments.

What will the plot be?

The plot for the new series has been kept under wraps, though there have been speculations on fan sites that it will follow the life of Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen in the Lord of the Rings films.

Salke said, "We're not remaking the movies, but we're also not starting from scratch.

"It'll be characters people love. There's no shortage of ambition for the project."

Big business for Scotland

The new series will be the latest production to be filmed in Scotland, with the likes of Avengers: Infinity War, period drama Melrose and historical drama Outlaw King all having been recently been shot here.

Film productions in Glasgow brought in £15.1 million to the economy in 2017, according to a report by the Glasgow Film Office, while Edinburgh's economy enjoyed a £16.1 million boost.

And the Lord of the Rings prequel is sure to contribute a significant further funds to the country’s economy.