Amazon Announces Release Date For The Lord Of The Rings Series

In a press release, the company finally let everyone know when we'd be allowed to enter Middle-earth for one of the most anticipated shows of all-time.

For the amount of cash they've thrown at it (reportedly £334 million), it's going to have to be very good.

The series - as you'd imagine - will be available pretty much all around the world, with 240 countries slated to receive the show.

Interestingly enough, the streaming platform will also release the episodes on a per-week basis, although it's not yet clear how many episodes they'll be putting out each week.

You'd have to imagine it would be only one though, wouldn't you?

As well as announcing the news regarding the release date, they've also provided the first official image for the show, which - according to reports - is from the first episode of the series.

We have no idea who the character is, or what the area of Middle-earth is that we're looking at, but there you have it.

While we're at it, it's worth mentioning the series doesn't actually officially have a name yet.

An updated plot synopsis tells us: "The new epic drama brings to screens for the very first time J.R.R. Tolkien's fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history.

"Beginning in a time of relative peace, thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth."

In the press release, Amazon Studios' head Jennifer Salke said: "I can't express enough just how excited we all are to take our global audience on a new and epic journey through Middle-earth!

Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay added: "As Bilbo says, 'Now I think I am quite ready to go on another journey.' Living and breathing Middle-earth these many months has been the adventure of a lifetime. We cannot wait for fans to have the chance to do so as well."

Much like the films, this series has been based in New Zealand for months while filming takes place.

Once we reach the autumn of next year, we'll be able to take a closer look at what they've been working towards.

It promises to be exciting.