As more details emerge regarding Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings series, it’s becoming apparent how huge it is and potentially how much of a gamble it is for Amazon. Initially it was reported that the prequel series would cost around $500 million, after Amazon beat out Netflix for the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien‘s epic.
Now, THR is reporting that costs could exceed over $1 billion. The deal also includes a five-season commitment, plus potentially a spin-off series.
Other details have emerged such as Amazon having just two years to begin production (for comparison, the original movies had over three years of pre-production before a single camera began rolling). The complicated deal also includes New Line and Warner Bros. in case Amazon wants to use anything from the films as well as the books.
It’s also unclear whether Peter Jackson is involved as executive producer at all. His attorney Peter Nelson was not a part of the 2017 negotiations but did recently help start a dialogue between the director and the streaming service. Nelson said of the deal:
“It’s very much a creature of the times. We are in an era where streamers are bidding up the price of programming. I think Amazon is taking a page out of the studios’ emphasis on franchises. They also are realising that with the overproduction of television, you need to get the eyeballs to the screen, and you can do that with franchise titles”.
All of the above is true, but it’s fair to wonder if all this investment is going to be worth it for Amazon. The Lord Of The Rings is a huge franchise that will certainly get them more subscribers, but will it be enough to justify their investment? And will the subscriber number be less than expected thanks to fan burnout from the disappointing Hobbit films?
We’ll be hearing a lot more about this mammoth series over the next few years, and plenty of people will be watching production unfold with interest to see if Amazon’s gamble pays off.
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