Amazon Boss Talks LOTR: Rings Of Power Losing Game Of Thrones Actor And How Show Has "More Than Paid Off"

Amazon Studios' Lord of the Rings TV series, The Rings of Power, is making a big change for Season 2, with Adar actor Joseph Mawle (Game of Thrones) dropping out. Amazon Studios boss Vernon Sanders discussed this shakeup, what's on tap for Season 3, and more in a new interview with Deadline.

Regarding Mawle's departure from The Rings of Power, Sanders simply said, "Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

"Joseph was tremendous and gave an incredible performance. The character of Adar in Season 2 has some really exciting dynamic things to play," Sanders said.

Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders) is replacing Mawle as Adar for The Rings of Power Season 2. Mawle said he is leaving The Rings of Power because he feels it is his duty as an actor to "explore new characters and worlds."

The Rings of Power debuted in September and reached 100 million people globally, Amazon said. The creative team has five seasons mapped out, including the very last shot. Season 2 is currently filming in the UK. Amazon has yet to officially order a third season, Sanders said fans can likely expect an official renewal order in 2023. The creative teams are "probably two to three months in" on preparations for Season 3, Sanders said.

"There's so much planning and prep that's necessary for us to get this mounted that the only reason we probably haven't gotten there quite yet [on an official renewal order for Season 3] is we've just been so heads down in Season 2, but I would expect there to be news in the new year."

As mentioned, The Rings of Power Season 2 is filming in the UK, which is a big departure from Season 1 that was shot in New Zealand, where Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies were produced.

Sanders said one of the benefits of moving from New Zealand to the UK is that the show's sophomore season will have a different look.

"Part of the benefit of being in the UK is that we're going to be able to shoot in places that look very different than what we saw in season one. We're able to shoot all across Europe, and we will see some of that production value on screen," he said.

The full Deadline interview touches upon many more elements of what's to come for The Rings of Power, like just how much of a success the show has been.

According to Sanders, The Rings of Power has been "a tremendous success" so far globally. "It is by far our biggest scripted series, it is the most acquisitive show that we've put out. After we finished releasing episodes, we saw a new surge of people come to the service to start the show," Sanders said. "We've already released the fact that we're over 100 million, and the number has gone up since then, it's millions and millions beyond that."

The Rings of Power also led people back to The Lord of the Rings books, Sanders said, noting the series saw a "spike in book sales" due to show. The show, which is among the most expensive ever to be produced, has "more than paid off," Sanders said.

"It's just been a company-wide success and as significant as our investment has been, it has more than paid off for us," the executive explained.