The good news is that The Lord of the Rings fans are getting more of their favorite fantasy story now that Amazon Studios has ordered a second season. The bad news is that production on Season 1 hasn't even started yet and we have no solid idea of when to expect the series to launch. Oh, and some more bad news on that front: The Lord of the Rings will also go on a four-to-five-month hiatus after filming the first two episodes, each directed by J.A. Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom).
Deadline reports that Amazon will reconvene their writers room, led by showrunners and executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, in order to break Season 2, though it's a little strange that the Season 1 team didn't already at least broach this exact subject. This Season 2 script work-through is expected to start during the hiatus.
This month marks the second anniversary since Amazon acquired the global TV rights to the late J.R.R. Tolkien's seminal stories. That deal included potential spinoff series as well as a multi-season commitment, but the catch is that Amazon still has to officially order each successive season. So while cameras have yet to roll for Season 1, Amazon is simply staying ahead of the curve by ordering Season 2 now and starting pre-production for it. This plan of attack shortens the break between the premiere dates. The hiatus will also give the creative team time to assess their work on the first two episodes (think of them like an extended pilot), reorient themselves if necessary, and prep to possibly start shooting Season 2 back-to-back with Season 1.
But Deadline also reports that production will resume after "the winter season in New Zealand is over." This means that the first two episodes should go into production during the upcoming New Zealand summer season, followed by the 4-5 month hiatus; Season 2 would likely not start until September 2020 if Deadline's intel is correct. Stay tuned for more as we hear it.