Amazon moves filming for 2nd season of 'Lord of the Rings' series to UK, taking the franchise out of New Zealand for the first time

• Amazon Studios is moving filming for the second season of its "Lord of the Rings" series to the UK.
• The decision marks a shift for the franchise, which had been shot in New Zealand.
• New Zealand's government said it was disappointed with the move, per Reuters.

Amazon's unnamed "Lord of the Rings" series will film its second season in the UK, Amazon Studios said Thursday. The announcement is a major shift for the franchise, taking filming for J.R.R. Tolkien's epic fantasy world away from New Zealand for the first time.

It said the shift from New Zealand would "align with the studio's strategy of expanding its production footprint and investing in studio space across the UK."

"We want to thank the people and the government of New Zealand for their hospitality and dedication and for providing the 'Lord of the Rings' series with an incredible place to begin this epic journey," said Vernon Sanders, the vice president and cohead of TV for Amazon Studios, in the announcement.

New Zealand's government told Reuters it was informed of Amazon Studios' move Thursday and was disappointed with the decision.

Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" trilogies were shot entirely in New Zealand, according to the country's website. Together, the six movies grossed $5.88 billion at the box office.

Amazon Studios has leaned into its spending for its "LOTR" series, which is set to cost the studio about $1 billion. Production for the first season alone, most of which was already shot in New Zealand, was said to have come in at a price tag of $465 million. For comparison, each season of HBO's hit show "Game of Thrones" cost about $100 million to produce.

The new series will be set thousands of years before the events of the original films and will feature a cast of characters "both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth," according to Amazon Studios. It is scheduled for release on September 2, 2022, on Amazon Prime.