The realm of television is reaching the stars as far as quality and talent are concerned with big-name properties taking over the entertainment landscape. The price tag for these productions is now the newest precedent in the industry with the likes of Netflix and Disney pushing production costs to the level of modern films. The Boys, WandaVision, and more accurately Game of Thrones have ushered in the age of expensive seasons with tons of CGI to flood the small screen. The most spent one a season was pushing toward the triple digits but now a new contender is coming to shoot well past that milestone set by Game of Thrones years prior. Amazon, being the titan that it is, will now house one of the most expensive television shows ever made based on one of the most beloved franchises in modern times The Lord of the Rings.
The much anticipated Lord of the Rings Prime-exclusive show is breaking records well before a release date is pegged. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon’s ambitious prequel series will cost $465 million on the first season alone which in and of itself is a record-breaker. Game of Thrones by comparison only reached that cost for an entire season by its 6th season. Amazon and the by extension the New Zealand government stated that the show will cost approximately $1 billion to produce between two seasons completely trumping any show currently in development. Producers of the upcoming series are already naming it the next Game of Thrones craze as a possible 5 season deal is being made should this first season gain traction only adding more money to the mix however that’s not the only step Amazon is taking from its competitor.
In 2017, Amazon had already spent 250 million on acquiring the rights to the franchise and since then details have been intentionally sparse. What is known is that the show will take place a whole millennium before the events of both film trilogies. An airtight writers’ room was formed not too long after the show’s announcement. An ensemble cast has been formed with Eddard Stark himself Robert Aramayo leading the trope while being joined by Morfydd Clark, Joseph Mawle, and Markella Kavenagh. The filming continues in New Zealand since February of last year though it is still unclear whether production of this first season is beginning to wrap.
Regardless, Amazon Studios has still penned a 2021 release for its streaming platform. With the collaboration of Amazon, Harper Collins, and of course the Tolkien Estate, this Lord of the Rings project seems to be a delight to longtime fans of the series since the conclusion of The Hobbit trilogy back in 2014. I for one am giddy with excitement that the same amount of resources used in the films is translating to the small screen with flying colors. Hopefully sometime not too far away we can all experience the world of man, orc, elven, and dwarven doing battle across Middle-Earth soon this year.