Lord of the Rings, Cowboy Bebop Series Resuming Filming in New Zealand

Two big television series are beginning production again in New Zealand, namely Lord of the Rings and Cowboy Bebop. Deadline reports that production has resumed on Amazon’s series based on the J.R.R. Tolkien world, with Cowboy Bebop expected to begin shooting again tomorrow. Both shows were filming in New Zealand before the pandemic caused a industry-wide shutdown.

The Lord of the Rings series is set in the Second Age, about 3,000 years before the start of the Lord of the Rings novels and films, and took place after the banishment of Morgoth, the dark lord who reigned before Sauron. It stars Robert Aramayo, Joseph Mawle, Maxim Baldry, Markella Kavenagh, Ema Horvath, and Morfydd Clark, the latter of whom will play a young Galadriel. Also appearing are Tom Budge, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, and Charlie Vickers.

Meanwhile, Cowboy Bebop is based on the popular anime and is from Tomorrow Studios. It stars John Cho as Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter with a crew of fellow bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals. It had made it a couple of episodes into its first season when Cho suffered a knee injury that put him on the shelf for months.