Another holiday season is almost upon, which means another great reason to buy and gift all things books! And there are some truly beautiful offerings from the publishing world this year, such some new illustrated editions of J.R.R. Tolkien works and Game Of Thrones/House Of The Dragon tomes, as well as Star Wars box sets; tie-ins for Star Trek, Stranger Things, and the Marvel and DC universes; graphic novel collections; hard rock and heavy metal memoirs; book-related gifts; fun, pop-culture-themed cookbooks, and much more!

Check out our Holiday Gift Guide 2022 for Books, eBooks, and Audiobooks for our favorite holiday gift picks for the readers in your life.

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.

Well this is just getting insane. Less than one month ago came word that the first seasons of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings would cost more than all three movies in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. Around $500 million.

But that’s just the beginning of the craziness. Amazon’s adaptation is going to cost hundreds of millions more than Jackson’s trilogy. In fact, it’s expected that once all the costs of producing the show are factored in—including casting, producers, visual effects, and so on—the price tag will be over $1 billion. BILLION. For a television show. It’s going to be the biggest TV series ever produced in terms of price tag.