This article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.A large international cast was hired for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and this scope was matched by its international filming schedule. Set in the Second Age of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional world of Middle-earth, The Rings of Power adapts content from The Lord of the Rings’ appendices, with the odd snippet of source material from The Silmarillion. Dedicated to painting Tolkien’s world onto TV screens, the show utilized a wide range of worldwide filming spots to help it develop the high fantasy scope and aesthetic it wanted.

Premiering on September 1, 2022, the show was intended as Amazon Prime Video’s own Game of Thrones. In other words, a water cooler TV show that everyone could watch, get involved in, and chat about on their work breaks by the water cooler (as per the term’s origins) – as opposed to a spectacle of gore and nudity. One week into The Rings of Power season 2, the show is number one most-watched on Amazon Prime. The show’s scale has only grown with its second season, and that is in no small part thanks to its diverse global studios.

New Zealand

Auckland Film Studios

The Rings of Power filmed season 1 in New Zealand, continuing a tradition from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Peter Jackson chose to film his famous trilogies in New Zealand due to the setting’s sweeping majesty, which was perfect for capturing the severity and beauty of Middle-earth. The Rings of Power wisely created a sense of familiarity in its Middle-earth by situating it somewhere viewers would recognize and love. Season 1 was filmed between February 2020 and August 2021, so cast and crew found themselves bonding in New Zealand over the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
season 1 is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Disa actress Sophia Nomvete said “New Zealand helped me in a way I never imagined a country could,” confirming her deep connection to the location and her work on-set, with both Rings of Power and her child born in New Zealand (via El País). Interior scenes for the eight-episode first season were filmed on sound stages at Auckland Film Studios. Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) and Charlie Vickers (Sauron) spent “two months, it felt like” filming The Rings of Power season 1 finale and episode 2 raft scene in a water tank (via Empire).

North Island’s Denize Bluffs in Mangaotaki Valley was one of the spectacular outdoor spots used to create Rings of Power season 1. This gorgeous New Zealand tourist hotspot was the setting of the Trollshaw Forest in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and was used for the Harfoot community in Rings of Power (via GQ). Galadriel and Elendil rode horses along a beach on the Coromandel Peninsula, adjacent to the Hauraki Gulf in New Zealand. Other Númenor scenes were also shot in and around this stunning gulf, with Isildur greeting Eärien on Cathedral Cove.

Tenerife

Teide National Park

Rhûn is part of eastern Middle-earth and is being explored in The Rings of Power season 2, with filming taking place in Tenerife, particularly at Teide National Park (via Diario de Avisos). In March 2022, Rings of Power was filmed on this standout Canary Island off Spain, which is home to immaculate natural landscapes. This locale was essential in creating Tom Bombadil’s home in Rhûn, according to showrunner Patrick McKay – “his ‘summer cottage’ should be an oasis of life in the middle of the desert – dotted with orange and lemon trees, and busy with goats, lambs, and bees” (via Vanity Fair).

San Juan de la Rambla hosted the cast and crew for five weeks while they filmed Rhûn’s desert landscapes in the arid plains and hills of Teide National Park. It seems that some of Númenor’s scenes were also filmed at San Juan de la Rambla, judging from promotional material released by Amazon showing upcoming scenes. Míriel actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson said “we had a couple stories that we shot on the island, and on some of my favorite days, I was looking at the ocean, the horizon… just feeling what Mother Earth is giving you, she is the best set designer” (via El País).

UK

Bray Studios

The second season of Rings of Power was filmed in the UK, between Bray Studios and Bovingdon Airfield on Chesham Road in Hertfordshire. Neighboring London, the county of Hertfordshire is also home to other huge film studios, such as Elstree Studios. Filming for season 2 occurred between October 2022 and June 2023, bumping into the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. Despite this obstacle, the show managed to film Sauron’s War Against the Elves for season 2, which will be its largest-scale battle yet.

Bray Studios and Bovingdon Airfield created some of the scarier scenes of
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Amazon recently acquired Bray Studios to use for its priority purposes going forward (via Variety). This Berkshire film studio is Amazon’s first UK studio, which comes after it bought its own studio in the US. Battles, forests, and fantasy monsters all await The Rings of Power season 2 characters after filming in these studios, with Ents, Barrow-wights, and Shelob joining proceedings. Bray Studios and Bovingdon Airfield undoubtedly created some of the scarier scenes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, with season 2 setting a much darker tone.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
season 2 is streaming on Amazon, with episode 4 out on September 5, 2024.

Sources: El País, Empire, GQ, Diario de Avisos, Vanity Fair, Variety