Joseph Mawle cast as villain in Lord of the Rings TV series

Joseph Mawle has been cast as the main villain of the upcoming ‘Lord of the Rings’ TV series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the former ‘Game of Thrones’ star will play a villain called Oren.
The 45-year-old ‘Ripper Street’ star has joined a cast that includes Will Poulter and Australian actress Markella Kavenagh.
The highly-anticipated Amazon series will take place before the events of the first book, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’. Amazon studios head Jennifer Salke said in August that the creative team has been "working for months" on the first series of the show.
Little is known about the plot details of the series, but, earlier this year, the show’s Twitter account sent out an image of a map along with two messages.
The first said: "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
This was followed up by: "Welcome to the Second Age."
The series is being developed by the writing team of JD Payne and Patrick McKay whilst J.A. Bayona, who helmed ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, will direct the first two episodes. He will also executive produce alongside producing partner Belen Atienza.
Amongst the other writers on the show are Gennifer Hutchinson (‘Breaking Bad’), Jason Cahill (‘The Sopranos’) and Justin Doble (‘Stranger Things’).
The show could be one of the most expensive productions of all time with The Hollywood Reporter predicting the total cost for the series could reach over $1 billion once production budgets, casting, writers, producers and visual effects are factored in.