Time Magazine sent over new details for the upcoming Amazon Prime Lord of the Rings prequel series “Rings of Power” which is featured in the September 1 release. The story also revealed exclusive details about the previously ordered second season. A cover for the magazine as well as the news can be seen below:

TIME’s new cover story is by Eliana Dockterman on the Lord of the Rings prequel and Amazon’s ambitious effort to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle-earth to streaming.

See the cover, featuring photography of the cast by Bryan Huynh for TIME: https://we.tl/t-8OkvcGIQpW

Read the cover story: https://bit.ly/3Qpeg3p

Dockertman writes: “After five years of development, The Rings of Power will finally premiere Sept. 2 on Amazon Prime Video. With a record-­setting price tag of well over $1 billion, it will be the most expensive show ever made…. the success of The Rings of Power will also indicate whether the streaming bubble is about to burst…Lord of the Rings is arguably the last piece of highly valuable intellectual property that had not yet been snatched up.”

“To compete for eyeballs and Emmys, Amazon spent about $468 million filming the first eight-episode season. (While Amazon wouldn’t confirm the number, the New Zealand government shared documents with TIME that confirmed the studio’s expenditures.)…With production of the second season beginning in October, Amazon will race past the $1 billion mark…But Amazon has run into some trouble convincing die-hard Tolkien fans that The Rings of Power will live up to their lofty expectations.” https://bit.ly/3Qpeg3p

++ TIME Exclusive: Producer Says Fan Theories About Sauron Are Wrong: https://bit.ly/3zZ5hyJ

++TIME Exclusive: This Fan-Favorite Character Is Joining the Second Season of Rings of Power: https://bit.ly/3SRg7zr

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE COVER STORY: TV’S BIGGEST BET

On how he wanted to dissuade fans from thinking the studio’s motives are purely economic, Jeff Bezos tells TIME: “Middle-earth is such a beloved world, and telling the story of the forging of the Rings of Power is a privilege and a responsibility. I hope we do Tolkien’s work justice….It goes beyond making a commercially successful show. Everyone working on the show read these stories as kids and our hearts are in it.”

On how no other series in the history of television has been this sprawling, this cinematic, this massive—or launched with such extraordinary secrecy under such external pressure Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, tells TIME: “The jewels of the crown are the big tentpole shows that invite in the whole family…And this is the crown jewel.”

On how she wants to explore how Galadriel evolves as she ages—and center that journey in what’s been a male-­dominated story, Morfydd Clark tells TIME: “I’m standing on the shoulders of women who spilt metaphorical blood to get to this point.”

On how he always knew something was missing from the Jackson films he adored and grew up in a small mountain town in Puerto Rico and harbored a childhood dream of playing an elf, Ismael Cruz Córdova, tells TIME: “I didn’t see myself represented…And when I said, ‘I want to be an elf,’ people said, ‘Elves don’t look like you,’….When I heard about the character on the show it felt like a mission.”

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The September 12 /September 18, 2022 double issue of TIME goes on sale on Friday, September 1.