Amazon Studio’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power set the record for the most expensive TV show ever made. But, despite being the most costly show on any streaming platform, the series experienced a low completion rate for its first season.
Amazon reportedly forked out $1 billion to produce The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series generated quite a buzz when it premiered and initially brought in high viewership numbers. However, a new report suggests that only a few stuck around for the season finale.
According to a new report by The Hollywood Reporter, insiders claimed that only 37% of US viewers watched the entire first season. The numbers for viewers outside the US are slightly better at 45%. The report states that Amazon considered a completion rate of 50% as good.
The report did not include the viewership breakdown for The Rings of Power. Amazon has previously said that 100 million subscribers watch the series during its first season.
While the numbers are quite low, an Amazon exec disagrees with the notion that the series fell short of its goals. “This desire to paint the show as anything less than a success–it’s not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally,” Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke said.
She shared that the second season will be much more exciting, as the first one was just laying the foundation. “That’s a huge opportunity for us. The first season required a lot of setting up,” Salke explains.
“It’s going to be grittier, more intense, maybe a little scarier,” executive producer Lindsey Weber adds. “Certainly, it has a lot of the same other tonal ranges that you find in the show, which we feel are really sort of fundamental to feeling like you’re in Middle-earth, but once Sauron is openly on the move and working his plans, things get rather interesting.”
According to the report, sources claim that Amazon Studios is a confusing and frustrating place to do business. A veteran producer reportedly said, “There has been no sense of what the philosophy is.”
A veteran showrunner shared that Amazon does not have an identity when it comes to its content. “There’s no vision for what an Amazon Prime show is,” the source shared. “You can’t say, ‘They stand for this kind of storytelling.’ It’s completely random what they make and how they make it.”
However, for Amazon, shows like The Rings of Power are the drivers for the growth of the platform. “The proof exists that the giant tentpole shows are driving people to subscribe to Prime,” Salke said.
Amazon has planned five seasons for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The studio is currently working on the second season which will likely premiere in 2024.
The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
