Is The Rings Of Power Season 2 On Track For A 2024 Release Date?

"The Rings of Power" Season 1 ended on October 14, 2022. Less than two weeks before that date, it was announced that Season 2 was officially in production. Since that time, we've had two major Hollywood strikes set back countless due dates. While "The Rings of Power" hasn't become an official casualty of strike delays, the ongoing turmoil has created a conspicuous silence about when the second installment of the show could be released.

There is still no official news from the studio. However, it's known that filming was in its final days as the writers' strike started in May. Now, a new rumor from fan site Fellowship of Fans claims the season is coming along nicely and (if you read between the lines) may even be eyeing a mid-to-late 2024 release.

The scoop reads: "Excl: The initial timeframe for The Rings of Power Season 2 to be completed is June 2024 (subject to change depending on post-production). For context, The Rings of Power Season 1 was completed in May 2022 and released September 2nd 2022."

Based on the rumor, it could be reasonably assumed that Season 2 is coming one year from now, in October 2024. Again, this is assuming the rumor is true. Either way, though, that is more than two full years after the end of Season 1, and unless news surfaces about a serious delay, it's hard to imagine the process taking much longer at this point.

The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes may have a long-term positive impact on Hollywood, both behind the scenes for workers' conditions and compensation as well as for the quality and pacing of new projects for audiences. However, in the short term, there are a number of projects currently in limbo. The "Dune" sequel was bumped from its fall 2023 slot further out into early 2024. The release of "Deadpool 3" has had a big question mark since August. "Kraven the Hunter" also jumped from October 6, 2023, way out to the end of the following August. The list of strike-related delays goes on.

In contrast, Amazon Studios recently got Season 2 of its "Wheel of Time" series off the ground because the series was far enough along to finish things up before the strikes interfered. Amazon even allowed unprecedented access to Jordan Studios and heads of departments in an attempt to promote the show without the help of its striking cast.

It appears "The Rings of Power" may have similarly dodged the delayed fate of so many other projects. In early May, the Middle-earth series reported (via Variety) that the series would finish its last 19 days of filming without the showrunners on set. (They would be absent as part of the WGA strike.) While a bit unsettling, it did send the message that the show was going to avoid major filming delays by the skin of its teeth. Based on the new rumor, it appears the show has stayed on track and will be able to stick to a fall release date with two years between seasons. Of course, whether that quietly includes a delay after all or everything worked out during those final 19 days on set remains to be seen.

"The Rings of Power" isn't the only Tolkienian adaptation in the works. Warner Bros.'s "The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim" is an anime film that was already well into development before the strikes began. Unfortunately, it is also the only known Middle-earth project so far that did end up getting delayed — from April 12, 2024, out to December 13 of that same year. This was part of a cascading effect caused by none other than Denis Villeneuve's Dune sequel.

While fans will have to wait a bit longer for the Rohirrim anime, it's still coming next year, and based on the latest release rumors above, it may even arrive around the same time as Season 2 of "The Rings of Power."

In the meantime, there are a ton of other as-of-yet unnamed Middle-earth projects coming down the pipeline. For starters, when news of Amazon's acquisition of the television rights to Middle-earth first broke, it included the mention of a potential spinoff series. While nothing has manifested on that front yet, it still remains in the cards as far as our research can tell.

In addition, a much more tangible possibility is a series of Middle-earth movies from Warner Bros. Earlier in 2023, the studio announced that more Middle-earth projects were in development. While details were scant, it's certain that something is in the works, and even Peter Jackson and his co-writers from "The Lord of the Rings" films are paying attention. In the meantime, all fans can do is hope that the newest rumor turns out to be true and they don't have to wait until the very end of 2024 for their next dose of Middle-earth cinema.