The upcoming second season of Amazon Studios The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerwhich is currently in production in the UK, will be directed by Charlotte Brandstromwho returns after directing two episodes of Season 1, as well as Sanaa Hamri and Louise Hoper who are new to the franchise. The announcement also indirectly confirmed that Season 2 will feature the same number of episodes as Season 1, eight.
In Season 1, Brändström was the sole female director; in Season 2, she leads an all-female directing team.
Brändström – who directed Episodes 106/“Udûn,” which featured Season 1’s big battle scene and the eruption of Mount Doom, and 107/“The Eye,” which chronicled its aftermath—will direct four episodes and will also serve as co-executive producer this season. She takes over as lead director from Wayne Che Yip, who directed four episodes, including the finale, and co-produced season 1. Yip and Brändström took over from JA Bayona who directed the first two episodes of the fantasy saga and also served as executive producer.
Hamri and Hooper will each direct two episodes of Season 2. Brändström and Hamri also have overall deals with Amazon Studios.
Developed by JD Payne and Patrick McKay, LOTR: Rings of Power takes place in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of the the Lord of the Rings movies and novels by JRR Tolkien. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows a cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the dreaded re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth.
By Amazon, the first season of power rings has been viewed by over 100 million people worldwide, with over 24 billion minutes streamed. The series drew more than 25 million viewers worldwide on its first day, marking the biggest premiere in the history of First videoand also debuted as the #1 show on the Nielsen Global Airplay Chart in its opening weekend.
Season 2 of the series is produced by showrunners and executive producers Payne and McKay. Lindsey Weber, Callum Greene, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill and Gennifer Hutchison also serve as executive producers, along with co-executive producer Brandstrom, producers Kate Hazell and Helen Shang, and co-producers Andrew Lee, Matthew Penry-Davey and Clare Buxton.
Brändström recently finished directing a pilot for Netflix Sweden titled The Unlikely Murder and his other television directing credits include outsider for HBO; Jupiter’s Legacy, The Witcherand A way for Netflix; The Man in the High Castle for Prime Video; and Foreign and Counterpart for Starz. Brändström also produced two European limited series: Conspiracy of silence for Viaplay and Disappeared for FR2, and has also directed over 30 feature films, miniseries and movies of the week. She is nominated for the International Emmy Awards for Julie, Knight of Maupin.
You can look Deadline is inside the ring aftershow in which Brändström talks about his work on Episode 106 and Episode 107.
Hamri recently wrapped executive producing and directing The wheel of timeis the second season of Prime Video. Previously, Hamri was executive producer/director of Fox’s hit series Empireand his other episodic television accomplishments include Shameless, Rectify, Nashville, Elementary, Glee and Desperate housewives. Hamri, who is also an accomplished music video director, directed Mariah Carey’s concert documentary, Mimi’s Adventuresand also directed the feature films Something new, the sorority of travel pants 2, and Just Wright.
Hooper is known for the four-part limited thriller flesh and blood, with Imelda Staunton and Stephen Rea; and Cheat, the four-part drama starring Molly Windsor. His additional directing credits include Neil Gaiman’s first-season finale The Sandman, The Witcher, Inside No. 9and Treason. Hooper began his career directing BBC Arts documentaries, working with David Lynch, Helmut Newton, Arthur Miller, David Attenborough and Björk, and also received a BAFTA nomination for directing. Our Gay Marriage: The Musical.