Will Poulter Drops Out of The Running For Amazon's LORD OF THE RINGS Series

Will Poulter (Midsommar) has dropped out of Amazon’s highly anticipated Middle Earth fantasy series inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The actor was loosely attached to star in the series, but no he will not be appearing in it.

According to Variety, he had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. The exact nature of the character Poulter was going to play remains a mystery, but the search for a replacement is now underway. Other actors who are attached to star in the series include Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Maxim Baldry, and Ema Horvath.

The series will explore new storylines preceding J.R.R. Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Ring, and it’s being developed by writers JD Payne and Patrick McKay, while Game of Thrones alum Bryan Cogman will serve as a consulting producer. J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is also set to direct multiple episodes.

Amazon has committed to five seasons of the series, and they will spend over a billion dollars bringing the story to life. The show’s official Twitter account sent out an image of a map teasing the setting along with two messages: “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,” as well as “Welcome to the Second Age.”

In the Tolkien mythology, the Second Age was the time in which the Rings of Power, including Sauron’s One Ring, came into existence. It was also teased that the film could involve the island of Numenor. The series will be shot in New Zealand, and the studio also announced that they are already moving forward on Season 2.