Prime Video Hosts J.R.R. Tolkien Homecoming in London’s Leicester Square for the World Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Ahead of the September 2 Premiere
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 30: General atmosphere at “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” World Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 30, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Prime Video)
Prime Video Hosts J.R.R. Tolkien Homecoming in London’s Leicester Square for theWorld Premiere of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Ahead of the September 2 Premiere
The highly anticipated Prime Video series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power honoured J.R.R. Tolkien by ending its epic global tour in the United Kingdom with its world premiere in London’s Leicester Square. Prime Video brought nearly 2,000 people—including cast, producers, and fans—into Middle-earth in advance of the series’ September 2 debut.
Members of the Tolkien family attend “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” World Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 30, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Prime Video)
The London premiere represented the final stop in the series’ five-city world tour that started in Los Angeles and included Mexico City, Mumbai, and New York City before culminating in Tuesday’s historic Leicester Square premiere.
Our lovely greendragon at “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” World Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on August 30, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Prime Video)
A fully immersive, Ring-shaped carpet took cast, crew, and guests on a narrative journey through five realms of Middle-earth, as they interacted with media and fans on their way into the Odeon Luxe and Cineworld in Leicester Square. The center of the 2,000-foot-long circular carpet was anchored by an exquisitely hand-crafted 40-foot-tall structure representing the five realms depicted in the series: The Elf capital of Lindon; the Dwarven realm of Khazad-dûm; the island kingdom of Númenor; the Southlands, the world of Man; and the Wilderlands, the home of the Harfoots. Five customized lanterns representing the five realms lit the way for cast down the carpet, each with different light sources: Fire and coal for the Dwarves, the Harfoots’ fireflies, Númenor’s oil lamps, the Southlanders’ caged candles, and Elven glow.
A living environment was created with a multitude of plants, grass, moss, vines, and 100 large-scale trees. A multilevel environment, mimicking the mountainous and hilly topography of the world, was created with various levels and vantage points, with greenery that will be repurposed or recycled following the event for future use.
Attending the global premiere were all 22 of the series’ cast regulars: Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
Also attending the premiere were showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay; executive producers Lindsey Weber and Callum Greene; directors Wayne Che Yip and Charlotte Brändström; writer and executive producer Justin Doble; series composer Bear McCreary; production designer Ramsey Avery; concept artist John Howe; supervising dialect coach Leith Mcpherson; and casting director Theo Park.
Amazon executives in attendance included Jeff Bezos, Founder & Executive Chairman; Jeff Blackburn, SVP Media & Entertainment; Mike Hopkins, SVP, Prime Video, MGM and Amazon Studios; Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios; Vernon Sanders, Head of Global Television, Amazon Studios; Albert Cheng, COO of Amazon Studios, among others.
The first two episodes of the multi-season drama will launch on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide on Friday, September 2, with new episodes available weekly.
Last night, Prime Video held a premiere celebration for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in Culver City, California. Making use of their new Culver Studios location (and the next door movie theatre), Prime Video hosted cast and crew with a Middle-earth themed red carpet, complete with drone show. Simon Tolkien, the Professor’s grandson, was also in attendance, along with many of the cast, creators and crew.
Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Prime VideoPhoto by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Prime VideoPhoto by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesPhoto by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesPhoto by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesPhoto by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty ImagesPhoto by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Prime VideoPhoto by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Here’s Prime Video’s official press release:
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – On Monday, August 15th, Prime Video hosted a Red Carpet and Premiere Screening event in celebration of “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER” at The Culver Studios. Fans and industry alike erupted with excitement as the cast of THE RINGS OF POWER arrived at the beautifully constructed Middle-earth themed red carpet, which was inspired by some of the character costumes seen in the show. The screening opened with remarks by: Jen Salke, Head of Prime Video, followed by Showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay.
Afterward, the cast, creators and guests celebrated the series’ premiere at The Culver Studios closing out the night. Guests were surprised when, 45 minutes into the party, a drone show filled the night sky over the Mansion, consisting of images they had seen during the screening of the first two episodes. It opened with the beautiful white paper swan from the opening shot of the series. The drones then morphed into other images including symbolism and iconography from the series before concluding dramatically with the Prime Video logo.
ATTENDEES:
Showrunners: JD Payne and Patrick McKay
Executive Producers:Lindsey Weber
Director/Executive Producer:JA Bayona
Composer: Bear McCreary
Cast: Benjamin Walker, Charles Edwards, Charlie Vickers, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ema Horvath, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Leon Wadham, Lloyd Owen, Markella Kavenagh, Maxim Baldry, Megan Richards, Morfydd Clark, Nazanin Boniadi, Owain Arthur, Robert Aramayo, Sara Zwangobani, Sophia Nomvete, Trystan Gravelle, Tyroe Muhafidin
Join Fili and Kili in Hollywood as they interview those rapscallion dwarves, elves, orcs, hobbits, and filmmakers! It was quite the humorous affair and “Hobbitception” came full-circle!
It can be argued that the biggest internet story coming out of the premiere is not spiders and bears, but a playful behind grab caught only by TheOneRing.net cameras! During our exclusive red-carpet interview with Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch sneakily snuck up and shared a pinch and a bird with his Hobbit co-star. Animated gifs have turned up everywhere on tumblr, and even Gawker’s Jezebel says this is the greatest thing to come out of it all. Continue reading “Cumberbatch ‘Grab’ Fires Up The Internet”
TheOneRing.net and Red Carpet Tours Premiere Party was a hit. Happy fans, stunning costumes, wonderful music and to top it all off, we were visited by Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Richard Taylor, Tania Rodgers, Gino Acevedo, Philippa Boyens, and a whole parcel of assorted dwarves – Stephen Hunter, Peter Hambleton and John Callen, to name just a few – well, I’ve surely left some names off the list and I’m sorry for that. But it was a wonderful, wonderful night, and we’re just bowled over at the generosity of the stars who gave their time and enthusiasm so generously. It was fantastic to be able to thank them and show our appreciation for their hard, hard work.
Huge thanks to William Kircher (Bifur) who entertained the crowd with his great band California Dreamers – their Misty Mountains song was a huge hit. Jed Brophy (Nori) was great with his band The Last Resort, and Jed also did a superb job as MC, keeping the crowd happy and keeping everything going smoothly.
Pics will no doubt follow (there were plenty of you out there with cameras, so please send us your faves); meanwhile check out the amazing scenes captured on local media and the reports coming in on Facebook.
Update! Reports are coming in from some of our discussion board members who attended the party. Read their reports on our TORn Moots and Other Event board here.
The Shire Waytes will play tonight at TheOneRing.net’s Hobbit Premiere Party. It’s been an all-out effort from the Shire Waytes to prepare for tonight’s party. This weekend their full complement gathered from the far-flung provinces so they could put the final polish on their act. Ringer Lissuin from our messageboards has been working overtime on their costumes – and you can see the fantastic results here.
If you’re in Wellington don’t miss this your chance to party with the fans! Door sales are available, and once you’re in, you have the chance to win goodies from Weta and Stansborough as we raise money for TORN and Books in Homes.
The Shire Waytes
Shire Waytes Percussion
The Shire Waytes will play tonight at TheOneRing.net’s Hobbit Premiere Party.
