Amazon Studios’ The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series was an expensive endeavour, but it was all worth it. In an interview with Deadline, Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios evaluated the fantasy series’ success and teased future plans.
Amazon dropped US$456 million to produce the first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, making it the most expensive show ever made. Sanders said the gamble “has more than paid off” as the series broke Prime Video records, attracting a younger audience in the 18-34 demographic and reached more than 100 million viewers.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power also boosted original creator J.R.R Tolkien’s works, making it a “company-wide success” as several of Tolkien’s titles wound up in Amazon’s most-sold books throughout the year.
Sanders also revealed that season two is currently filming and that it will ramp up the pace of storytelling and the scope of battle scenes. Filming has also moved from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
“It’s going great. Season 1 had so much establishing to do that we now get to have the fun of seeing the story ramp up as Sauron is revealed. And I think audiences can look forward to a show that, while it feels true to itself, feels like the stakes are ever higher and now that the rings are in play, seeing what they can do and seeing how the various factions within the world deal with those implications. I think it’s going to be really compelling,” said Sanders.
All of this, teased Sanders, leads to a third season. Whilst there is no official announcement yet, a third season looks promising.
“We are absolutely committed, we have every reason to be excited. They’ve done a tremendous job. It’s a great question about Season 3, we’re probably two to three months in on Season 3, but I think there could be news certainly in the new year. There’s so much planning and prep that’s necessary for us to get this mounted that the only reason we probably haven’t gotten there quite yet is we’ve just been so heads down in Season 2, but I would expect there to be news in the new year,” teased the Amazon head.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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