Amazon is pushing ahead with its huge, pricey and ambitious adaptation of Lord Of The Rings, but it'll have to do so without actor Will Poulter. Variety has learned that he has to drop out of the series before it starts production because of scheduling issues.
While he'd been close to a deal to play one of the – still unknown – lead roles in the series, that contract never closed and a conflict means he had to drop out. As it standard for these sorts of deals, Amazon hadn't officially confirmed the trade magazine's story about his casting.
With JD Payne and Patrick McKay in charge of the show (plus Game Of Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman as a consultant and director JA Bayona setting the visual style), the story will reportedly explore new storylines that happen many years before the events portrayed in Peter Jackson's movies, with the focus around the Second Age. That means it'll probably explore the time when the Rings of Power were forged into existence.
Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Maxim Baldry, and, more recent addition Ema Horvath are part of the cast for the series, which should start shooting next year and has already been renewed for a second season.