Among the most anticipated autumn streaming titles, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power returns to Prime Video with its third season, delivering another chapter of Sauron’s story and how he forged the One Ring—the very artifact that shaped the events of the main film trilogy in theaters and now sits at the heart of the upcoming spin-off focused on Hunt for Gollum. In fact, it was showrunner Patrick McKay who clarified that the TV series and the films are actually connected.
The Lord of the Rings, According to the Showrunner: The Rings of Power and Hunt for Gollum Communicate with Each Other
Even though what unfolds in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power takes place many years before the main trilogy crafted by Peter Jackson, according to showrunner Patrick McKay the TV series is “in dialogue” with Hunt for Gollum, a new project set in Middle-earth whose events occur during what is shown in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The film is scheduled for release in December 2027, but in the meantime, what is depicted in the third season of The Rings of Power will also be connected to Hunt for Gollum.
To share more, Patrick McKay spoke to Screen Rant: “There’s room in Middle-earth for everyone, and we are fans of those films, and we hope it turns into something fantastic. So many talented artists, across countless expressive means over 75 years, have interpreted this material, painted or drawn it, turned it into a song, a film, or an animated feature. I think that if our fate were to have a place on a shelf beside all these other works, we would be more than happy.” He then clarified the connection: “Yes, they do speak to one another.”
The Rings of Power is actually set during the Second Era, while Hunt for Gollum takes place thousands of years later during the Third Era, placing it between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The story told in Hunt for Gollum begins with Gandalf asking a young Aragorn to track down the creature and stop him before he reveals the One Ring to Sauron. In the third season of the TV series, available for streaming on Prime Video starting November 11, 2026, Sauron is forging the Ring in question. Although they share the same universe, the TV series and the film are two independent projects but cannot ignore one another.
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