The first season of Amazon’s much-anticipated series adaptation of The Lord of the Rings isn’t even in production yet. The series is currently in pre-production in New Zealand, where the show will be filmed. But whatever Amazon has seen of what’s been developed so far has given them all of the confidence necessary to move forward with an early greenlight for season two.

Shortly after we found out that Amazon was in talks for a Lord of the Rings TV series back in 2017, it was confirmed that they had reached a deal and had committed to a multiple-season adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic work. So seeing that season two has been greenlighted, even this early, is not all that surprising. But according to reports their multiple-season commitment didn’t necessarily guarantee a second season—understandable, considering the mind-boggling mountains of coin that would be required to produce the five seasons Amazon committed to—and an official greenlight was still needed.

Amazon has settled on a location for their massive adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s epic tale The Lord of the Rings, and it’s a familiar place to fans.

Amazon Studios has announced that the series will be filmed in New Zealand, where Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy and much of his Hobbit trilogy were shot. The series is currently in pre-production, and production is expected to kick off in Auckland, New Zealand sometime in the coming months.

Casting has begun on Amazon’s massive Lord of the Rings series based on J.R.R. Tolkien‘s classic books, and one of the lead roles has now been filled.

It’s being reported that Will Poulter has joined the show as one of the main characters, though it has not yet been revealed which character that is. Poulter is known for his work in Son of Rambow, We’re the Millers, The Maze Runner, The Revenant, Detroit, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and the recent Midsommar among others.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Director: J. A. Bayona
Writers: Colin Trevorrow, Derek Connolly
Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, B. D. Wong, Jeff Goldblum, Rafe Spall, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Ted Levine, Isabella Sermon, Geraldine Chaplin
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 128 Minutes
Release Date: June 22, 2015

That wide-eyed look of wonder you experienced when watching the first Jurassic Park is something that can only be experienced first hand. Of course, whenever a film like that is loved and successful, you are going to want to continue those adventures with sequels. Unfortunately, the Jurassic Park sequels never lived up to the first film. But just before it met its untimely extinction, it was revived, thanks in part to the reboot craze. Though Jurassic World was a box office smash, it wasn’t as loved by critics. In fact, it was widely panned.

Now we are here with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the second chapter of this reboot. This time J.A. Bayona is at the helm using a script written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly. But even with some new blood directing this, it isn’t nearly enough to get the film away from the fact that this franchise continues to have stupid people doing stupid things, over and over and over again. My full review below.

Following Jurassic World‘s monstrous box office run in 2015, Universal immediately gave the sequel the greenlight. However, Colin Trevorrow would be unable to return due to his obligation to direct Star Wars: Episode IX, at the time. So they brought in J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, A Monster Calls) to direct Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. And based on what we have seen so far, it is quite the departure from Trevorrow’s vision.

Now Universal has released the final trailer for the upcoming film, which, judging by the way it looks, will be a lot more scarier than any of the Jurassic films we have previously seen. Check it out below.