Amazon has announced that it will film its $1bn Lord of the Rings prequel series in the U.K. rather than New Zealand in a "nightmare scenario" for the Pacific nation's Tolkein tourism. The New Zealand government said it only learned on 12AUG that Amazon would take the series elsewhere after 20 years. NZ PM Jacintha Ardern recently stated that NZ’s borders would remain closed to foreigners until at least the end of 2021, prompting the relocation of the filming. Many of the most iconic locations from the original film trilogy were captured in New Zealand, home of director Peter Jackson, and remain a huge draw for tourists and fans of Tolkein's novels. Now, as the filming moves elsewhere, critics of the NZ government raise concerns that tourism for the series will shift as well, for another blow to the country’s economy.
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