The $808M series that's the biggest flop in TV history... and there's still three seasons to go
Published: 02:08, 26 November 2024
Amazon's Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Rings Of Power, has become the most expensive television series in history, with its costs surging to $808.9 million, even though almost two-thirds of all viewers quit watching the show before the finale of its first season.
In 2017, Amazon paid an estimated $250 million to buy the TV rights to The Lord Of The Rings from the estate of British author JRR Tolkien, who wrote the original books in the 1950s.
Amazon's billionaire boss Jeff Bezos is a super fan of the fantasy series and was personally involved with the negotiations, as he saw the potential to turn it into a show that could take on his arch-rival HBO's Game of Thrones.
It didn't end up being the heavy hitter he hoped for.
When the first season of The Rings Of Power was released on the Amazon Prime streaming service in 2022, only 37 percent of US viewers who started watching it saw it through to the end, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Two years later, the second season didn't fare any better.
Amazon's Lord Of The Rings prequel, The Rings Of Power, has become the most expensive TV series in history, with costs surging to $808.9M, even though nearly two-thirds of viewers quit watching it before the first season finale
In 2017, Amazon paid an estimated $250M to buy the TV rights to The Lord Of The Rings from the estate of JRR Tolkien, who wrote the original books in the '50s
Data from streaming analytics firm Samba TV showed within four days of its premiere, the first episode was watched by 900,000 US households, which is about half the size of the audience of the season one pilot.
The show found itself in the middle of a fierce row as its diverse cast of actors angered many fans of the books who claimed that Tolkien's masterpiece had been updated for the modern world in ways that altered the integrity of the original.
It contributed to audiences giving the two seasons an average rating of 49% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, whilst Game Of Thrones scored 85%.
The Rings Of Power has failed to become a cultural phenomenon like Game Of Thrones, despite being based on a much more well-known series of books. It came at quite a cost.
Amazon's streaming show is set before Tolkien's books, which Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson turned into six movies starring A-listers including Cate Blanchett and Ian McKellen.
The movies made $5.9 billion at the box office, and their success spurred Amazon to give its show a blockbuster budget.
Initial estimates put the cost of its five seasons at $1 billion but almost that much has already been spent on the first two.
Subscribers don't pay to watch the show specifically but get access to it along with all of the other content on Amazon Prime.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is a LOTR super fan; he's pictured in August 2022 in London with fiancée Lauren Sánchez
Data from streaming analytics firm Samba TV showed within four days of its premiere, the first episode was watched by 900,000 US households, which is about half the size of the audience of the season one pilot
This makes it difficult to say whether The Rings Of Power will ever make a profit, according to Tom Harrington of media researchers Enders Analysis.
'Given the structure of the streaming model, it is almost impossible to robustly attribute profitability to any single piece of content, unless a massive volume of incremental sign-ups that go straight to the show can be identified or there is a clear link between viewing of the program and other revenue streams.
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'Given the wild costs of Rings Of Power, subdued viewing figures (at least in the US and the UK), and the perennial inability of Amazon to create pathways between Prime Video and shopping, it's highly unlikely that Amazon is getting a strong return on its investment in the show.'
The cost of making streaming shows is usually a closely guarded secret, as studios combine them in their overall expenses and don't itemize how much they spend on each one.
However, shows that are filmed in the United Kingdom and New Zealand are exceptions to this, and The Rings Of Power was made in both countries.
Their governments offer a partial reimbursement of the money spent on making shows there, and studios set up separate production companies for each one in order to prove how much they cost.
These companies have to file annual financial statements, which shine a spotlight on the otherwise secretive costs of big-budget shows.
The first season of The Rings Of Power was filmed in New Zealand by GSR Productions, a subsidiary of Reunion Pacific Entertainment, the Canadian company that made the series for Amazon.
Initial estimates put the cost of Rings Of Power's five seasons at $1 billion but almost that much has already been spent on the first two
The cost of making streaming shows is usually a closely guarded secret, but shows that are filmed in the United Kingdom and New Zealand are exceptions to this, and The Rings Of Power was made in both countries
Financial statements reveal that it cost $226.4M (NZ$323.2M) to film season one, with a further $124.3M (NZ$199.5M) spent on its visual effects over the year to June 30, 2022, just before the show premiered
GSR's latest financial statements reveal that it cost $226.4 million (NZ$323.2 million) to film season one, with a further $124.3 million (NZ$199.5 million) spent on its visual effects over the year to June 30, 2022, just before the show premiered.
The colossal cost of $350.7 million for season one was due to its lavish visual effects, which recreated armies of orcs marching through sweeping storybook settings.
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More than 1,500 visual effects artists from 20 studios worked on the show, including Weta FX, which created the effects for the Lord Of The Rings movies.
The luscious visuals continued in the second season, which was shot in the UK and debuted in August of this year.
It is understood that the Tolkien estate wanted the series to be shot in the UK from the start, as it inspired the original books.
Amazon was so enamored with the country that in July of this year it bought the film studio outside London where the second season was shot.
The latest financial statements for GSR UK Productions were released last week and reveal that by the time filming for the second season ended in June 2023, $458.2 million (£364 million) had been spent on it.
However, it doesn't stop there, as the show also received a $91.9 million (£72.8 million) reimbursement from the UK government, whilst their counterparts in New Zealand repaid 20% of the money spent in the country.
The colossal cost of $350.7M for season one was due to its lavish visual effects, which recreated armies of orcs marching through sweeping storybook settings
By the time filming for the second season ended in June 2023, $458.2M (£364M) had been spent on it
The spending is still set to surge, as the second season debuted more than a year after the date of the financial statements. Much of the costly digital effects work was done during that time
The spending is still set to surge, as the second season debuted more than a year after the date of the financial statements, and during that time much of the costly digital effects work was done.
It cast a powerful spell on the UK, as the London office of Disney's Industrial Light & Magic effects firm worked on the show.
Studios also spend on local services, such as props suppliers, security and catering.
The spending keeps local workers in jobs, and the financial statements reveal that a peak of 522 staff worked on The Rings Of Power, with total pay coming to $35.7 million (£28.3 million).
