Amazon Prime Video's upcoming Lord of the Rings series has parted ways with one of its stars.
The epic show, which is set thousands of years before the events of the JRR Tolkien books and the classic movie trilogy, had already unveiled its main cast members.
However, actor Tom Budge (whose role was yet to be disclosed) has revealed that he has now exited the show, explaining that Amazon decided to go in "another direction" with his character.
"Hello loves, It is with great sadness that I am writing to tell you I have departed Amazon's Lord of the Rings television series," he shared on Instagram.
"After recently seeing the first episodes shot over the last year, Amazon has decided to go in another direction with the character I was portraying..."
The actor continued: "I must thank the creative team for their encouragement towards trying something that I believed was new, exciting and beautiful.
Related: Is the Lord of the Rings TV series about to make the same mistake as Game of Thrones?
"And I sincerely thank the extraordinary cast and crew for their love, support and friendship over what has been a very difficult and unusual experience. Alas, some things just cannot be. Destiny my mother, I thank thee. x Tom"
Budge isn't the only actor to part ways with the show, with original star Will Poulter stepping away back in 2019 – though that was due to scheduling conflicts.
!["the long song" photocall](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/lenny-henry-1576231133.jpg?crop=1xw:0.7294921875xh;center,top&resize=768:* ""The Long Song" Photocall")
Related: Lord of the Rings cast confirm reunion special
The hugely ambitious (and expensive) show is set to star the likes of Sir Lenny Henry, Morfydd Clark, Markella Kavenagh, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Joseph Mawle, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Trystan Gravelle and Maxim Baldry.
Also Middle-earth-bound are Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker and Sara Zwangobani.
Lord of the Rings will air on Amazon Prime Video, with no confirmed release date yet.
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