‘Lord Of The Rings’ star Bernard Hill hits out at ‘The Rings Of Power’: “It’s a money-making venture”

Lord Of The Rings star Bernard Hill has hit out at Amazon’s The Rings Of Power, labelling it a “money-making venture”.

The actor, who starred as King Théoden in the original LOTR trilogy, recently told Metro that he has “no interest” in watching the new spin-off series.

Set thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Rings Of Power takes viewers back to the Second Age of Middle-earth.

With a reported budget of $1billion (£866.6million), it is the most expensive series ever made. But that hasn’t convinced Hill to give it a go.

Asked if he’s watched the prequel series, the actor replied: “No, not interested.”

“It’s a money-making venture and I’m not interested in watching that or being in it. Good luck to them and all that stuff but it’s not like the real thing.”

Asked if he believes the franchise would have been better off ending after the original trilogy, he said: “Completely, yes. I think they were pushing it when they made The Hobbit. The Hobbit’s a tiny book.

“They did it well – they did it really, really well. They expanded it [but] I think you can only stretch a piece of elastic so far. I think they managed it in The Hobbit because there were some really good things in The Hobbit without a doubt.”

In NME‘s four-star review of the first season, we wrote: “The Rings Of Power, for all its grand elf lords, biblical storytelling and cinematic scope, retains the wholesome heart that made the films feel so warm and cosy.”

Amazon ordered a second season of the series back in 2019, before pre-production had even started on the first.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, production on the second season began on October 3 in the UK.