PLANTERSVILLE, TX — Faced with mounting costs and dwindling viewership, producers for the Amazon TV series Rings of Power reportedly saved hundreds of millions of dollars by simply filming at a local Renaissance Festival.
Showrunners felt the Texas Renaissance Festival of Plantersville looked close enough to Middle-earth to work for the show's purposes, choosing to set up just in front of the camel ride.
"Oh yeah, this is just like the Shire," said producer Garth Fembrill. "All of the kids are basically hobbits anyway. I don't even know why we pay actors or wardrobe, there's already a bunch of people in costume for free. Just have that guy dressed as a blacksmith come over here and shout something about Sauron or whatever. Man, this is brilliant."
Producers were ecstatic to learn that the Renaissance Festival hosted its own "show" three times daily, which they would be allowed to film. "Oh heck yeah. That's a whole episode right there," said Fembrill. "The brochure says it's about 'King Nolan' from the 'Realm of Houston' fighting off dudes trying to kidnap his wife. Just throw in a couple references to elves, and boom! That's Rings of Power material right there."
At publishing time, viewers of social media preview clips had expressed surprise at how frequently residents of Middle-earth ate turkey legs.
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