Production of the new Lord of the Rings television series will move to the UK from New Zealand.
The as-yet-untitled fantasy epic is set thousands of years before the events in JRR Tolkien's books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
It is a major blow for New Zealand's entertainment industry where the award-winning movies were also filmed.
UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden welcomed the decision.
Amazon Studios, the film and TV arm of the technology giant, has already spent US $465m on the first season of the show.
It said the shift in locations was part of a plan to expand its production space and consolidate its footprint in the UK.
The first season of the show will finish filming in New Zealand and will be shown on Amazon Prime in September 2022.
[Source: BBC]
