Amazon wants to return to Middle-earth.

The company is about to renew its Prime Video fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for a third season.

While showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay have spent months preparing the next season’s story, the lack of official approval has caused speculation and concern among some fans – especially since the second season was ordered years before the first season debuted. But the news is likely to be announced this month.

The decision follows this week’s Prime Video UK Upfront presentation to advertisers in London, announced by Amazon MGM Studios Rings of power content and featured several members of the show’s cast (Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Charlie Vickers and Sophia Nomvete) during the presentation to advertisers. At these events, studios typically present shows to buyers only if they have a firm plan to continue with them.

Studio head Jennifer Salke told buyers that the second season generated over 55 million viewers and the company expects the final season to eventually catch up with the first season, which reached more than 150 million (Amazon declines to define what makes a viewer, but said this). the show remains a top 5 series for the streamer). The Rings of Power It also topped the Nielsens charts for its second week, with over 1 billion minutes streamed. As for the reception, the Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience ratings were slightly better in the second round than the first.

Previously, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Amazon is currently sticking with its original 50-hour schedule for the series.

Payne and McKay – who also have multi-year deals – have assembled their writers’ room for season three. Writers on board include Justin Doble (executive producer), Ben Tagoe (consulting producer), Ava Wong Davies (consulting producer), Constance Cheng (consulting producer), Jonathan Wilson (consulting producer), Griff Jones (staff writer) and Sarah Anson (Staff writer).

Further information on this The Rings of Power Final, see THR’s story in which Payne and McKay are interviewed about the conclusion of the second season, in which the duo breaks down some of the key creative decisions they made and teases Sauron’s future for the third season.