LOTR: The Rings of Power: How much did Season 1 cost to produce?
What does Middle-earth cost? A lot considering the cost of The Rings of Power. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series costs so much that the otherwise pricey Game of Thrones feels like a cheap deal. But how much of the cost is just the rights to Tolkien’s world?
Watch the rings of power – it’s finally here! The first episode of the Lord of the Rings series has been available exclusively on Amazon Prime since September 2, 2022. And as soon as the credits for the spectacle are running at the end, some people ask themselves: How much money is actually in this mammoth production? A little tip: your guess is probably too low. There is information about the price of Season 1.
Season 1 of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power was so expensive
According to the Wall Street Journal (via Business Insider) has the The first season of Rings of Power grossed $715 million. That’s about the cost of 5.1 million annual Amazon Prime subscriptions – so the fantasy series basically pays off if 5 million people get such a subscription! There is official information from Amazon about Prime customers: 200 million customers worldwide have such a subscription.
250 million for the TV rights alone
While other streaming companies like Netflix and HBO were also interested in TV rights to a Lord of the Rings series, only Amazon offered the whopping $250 million for it. Accordingly, $500 million was put into production in New Zealand, while the rest was still spent on marketing. For comparison: Seasons of Game of Thrones cost an average of $100 million. (via Variety)
Rings of Power has to be a success – otherwise it’s bleak for Amazon Studios
According to the Wall Street Journal, while Amazon has near-limitless funds for such a series (the cost represents just 0.15 percent of Amazon’s 2021 annual sales), it’s also a gamble, according to a former Amazon exec: “If we can’t make this IP a success, then what is Amazon Studios for anyway?…The series has to be successful. There’s no other way.”
Should it come to the hoped-for success, the chances are good that there will be spin-offs, which in turn will be more merchandise allow, as is the case with Game of Thrones. Did you stay up late enough or got up early enough to watch the first episode of Rings of Power? Do you see how what is shown could have been so expensive? Write us your first impressions in the comments – of course without spoilers!
Reference-www.buffed.de
