Amazon’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ Series Taps ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Preacher’ Director Wayne Che Yip to Direct Four Episodes

Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings series has found a new director. While Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom filmmaker J.A. Bayona directs the first two episodes of the studio’s fantasy TV series inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, no other directors had yet been announced. Until today, as Amazon Studios has hired Wayne Che Yip, who has helmed episodes of Doctor Who and Preacher, as its new Lord of the Rings director (for at least a handful of episodes).

Amazon Studios announced that British Chinese director Wayne Che Yip is joining the creative team of the The Lord of the Rings as a director and co-executive producer. Yip will direct four episodes, following Bayona’s first two episodes of the series.

Yip is best known for directing British genre TV like Doctor Who, Misfits, and Utopia, though he has been striking out to more international titles recently with episodes of Hunters and Preacher under his belt. Amazon seems to have taken a liking to him too, with Yip collaborating with the studio on episodes of its upcoming epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Based on what I’ve seen of his work on Doctor Who — Yip directed the season 10 episodes “The Lie of the Land” and “Empress of Mars” — he seems like a good choice. “The Lie of the Land” was a dystopian epic that was truly impressive in scale, while “Empress of Mars” was a claustrophobic pulpy sci-fi throwback. Yip returned for the season 11 New Year’s Special “Resolution,” too, which admittedly was the most forgettable of his episodes, but he seems to have a solid workmanlike approach to genre TV, which would make him a good addition to Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series.

“It is a true honor to be invited into the world of Tolkien by J.D. & Patrick and Amazon Studios. Every day I look forward to working with the incredible team here in New Zealand as we humbly contribute to the legacy of the greatest stories ever told,” Yip said in a statement.

Led by series showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne & Patrick McKay, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series is currently shooting in New Zealand. It’s the company’s most ambitious and expensive original project yet and features a massive cast of international newcomers that include Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman,

The Lord of the Rings series, which is set hundreds of years before the events of Peter Jackson’s trilogy, is expected to arrive on Amazon Prime Video sometime in 2021.

Amazon Studios’ forthcoming series brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  Beginning in a time of relative peace, 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. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

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