We already know that the prequel series, set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video, is going to be expensive. When the series was first announced, the company said that the entire five seasons would have a budget of $1 billion.
As astronomical as this amount is, Amazon might have spent so much more. The final bill, it appears, isn't "just" $450 million as initially reported. A more recent report claims that the total cost of the first season is set at $715 million. If we believe the Wall Street Journal, the first season of Rings of Power will easily remain the most expensive TV show made by a mile.
To put this money into context, The Rings of Power will cost $89 million per episode. This is nearly three times the per episode cost of Stranger Things 4 and almost four times what HBO had reportedly spent on each episode of House of the Dragon. How did Rings of Power get so expensive? Amazon spent $250 million to acquire the rights to the Lord of Rings from the J.R.R. Tolkien estate. Jeff Bezos, Chairman of Amazon and the second richest man, helped negotiate the rights to the Lord of the Rings. Bezos described the opportunity to make Rings of Power as a "privilege and a responsibility," as he hopes to "do Tolkien's work justice."