It was shot during the COVID-19 pandemic, took months to complete in post-production, but now it's just weeks before New Zealand's Tolkien fans - along with those of the rest of the world - get to see the final result.
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power is due to premiere on Prime Video on September 2, and the cast and a range of invited celebrities including Creed actor Michael B Jordan have just celebrated the red carpet premiere in Los Angeles.
The first season of the show is believed to have cost around US$1 billion to make - that's nearly twice the cost of the original Lord of the Rings movie series from Sir Peter Jackson.
Wellington actor Leon Wadham, who plays Kemen in the series and grew up watching the original films while at school, says the idea that a premiere is even taking place in the hot summer sun of Los Angeles "feels entirely surreal”.
Tolkien's work and New Zealand's fellowship and love for the material has once again rung true, with the cast telling Newshub in Los Angeles the welcome from the country "was really humbling".
Trystan Gravelle, who plays Pharazôn in the show, said none of them would ever forget their time in the spiritual home of Middle-earth.
"I will be forever grateful to New Zealand for what they did. What the people did for us out there, the generosity of spirit you guys showed us. It's humbling."
Amazon announced in August 2021 later seasons of the show would be filmed outside of New Zealand, with production for the second season being shifted to the UK.
But there's just something iconic about the wilds of New Zealand and what they offer the screen world of Tolkien and filmmakers' visions of how Middle-earth should look.
Actor Robert Aramayo said on the red carpet that the landscape was "number one on the call sheet”.
"It's a character in Tolkien's world," Aramayo said.
Sara Zwangobani, who plays Marigold Brandyfoot, says they're still in awe of the locations Aotearoa was able to offer - and they still get questions about whether it's real.
"Even now, we've had people who've seen the episodes, saying 'Oh, so about the greenscreens.' And I'm like 'Mine is 90 percent on location, there ain't no greenscreen.'"
