With the recent premiere of the highly anticipated adaptation of the classic fantasy series The Wheel of Time finally arriving on Prime Video, fans are already excited to see when the already confirmed second season will be arriving. While we don't know any specifics just yet, Amazon has announced that they are now halfway finished principal photography of the upcoming Season 2.
Shooting for Season 2 began in Prague, Czech Republic in July, where the show is still currently filming. The next season will be seeing many returning faces and characters from the first season, though it was previously announced that Barney Harris, who will be playing the character of Mat Cauthon in Season 1 of the upcoming series, will not be returning for the second season and will be replaced by Dónal Finn.
While the second season moves ahead with its production, the recently released series is enjoying a fair amount of success. Alongside the production update, Amazon announced that The Wheel of Time was the most watched series premiere of the year, and one of the top five series launches of all time for Prime Video, with the series being streamed "tens of millions of times" in its first three days. The success of the adaptation has also seen a renewed interest in the novel series, with the first novel in the Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World, is #14 on Amazon’s Most Read Fiction chart this week.
"We are elated by the strong debut of The Wheel of Time, one of our most watched series premieres of all time,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “It’s a testament to everyone involved in the series – the incredible cast, led by Rosamund Pike, and our showrunner Rafe Judkins, and the entire team, who took viewers on a journey into a visually stunning world populated with diverse characters and cultures. It’s unlike any other fantasy series, and our customers all over the world are responding.”
The series was renewed for a second season back in May and follows the story of Moiraine, who is a member of the Aes Sedai, an all-female organization in a world where only certain women can wield its magic. The Wheel of Time book series consists of 14 volumes and was written by Robert Jordan until his death in 2007. Fellow fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson went on to finish the series with the final book, A Memory of Light, releasing in 2013. The series is highly regarded by both fans and critics, with many considering it a modern classic in the fantasy genre. Sanderson is acting as consulting producer on the show alongside Harriet McDougal, with Rafe Judkins serving as showrunner. Larry Mondragon and Rick Selvage of Red Eagle Entertainment, Ted Field and Mike Weber of Radar Pictures, Darren Lemke, Marigo Kehoe, and Uta Briesewitz act as executive producers.
The first season of Wheel of Time is streaming on Prime Video, with new episodes dropping every Friday. You can read the official synopsis of the series down below.
'The Wheel of Time' is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.