Elijah Wood says title of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is ‘slightly misleading’

‘Not to get nerdy, but it’s the Second Age of Middle Earth’

Elijah Wood has suggested that the title of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series is “slightly misleading”.

The actor, who played Frodo Baggins in the original film trilogy, told Indiewire that he was “super fascinated” by the forthcoming TV adaptation and would be more than happy to make a cameo appearance joking: “Look, any excuse to get to go to New Zealand to work on something, I am absolutely there.

“They’re calling it The Lord of the Rings, but I think that’s slightly misleading,” Wood said. “From what I understand, the material they are working on exists chronologically further back in history in the lore of Lord of the Rings or Middle Earth than any characters represented in Lord of the Rings.

“It sounds more Silmarillion era. Not to get nerdy, but it’s the Second Age of Middle Earth,” he explained.

Published posthumously in 1977, The Silmarillion tells the history of Eä, the universe in which Middle Earth is found.

Estimated to be costing Amazon $1bn, the TV series will take place in a different time to Peter Jackson’s movie franchise, after JRR Tolkien’s estate banned the studios from altering or replicating stories already told in the films.

Production on the show is due to resume shortly following a break due to the coronavirus pandemic, with a New Zealand talent agency last month putting out a call for “funky looking” and “unusual” actors to join the cast.