The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power has had a troubled time at Amazon. It was the most expensive TV show ever made, and arrived in a blaze of publicity and very strong viewing figures. However, it didn’t take long for both Tolkien nerds and casuals alike to start to find issues with the show.
What started with more than 100 million viewers globally by the end of 2022, making it Prime Video’s most-watched series ever, by the time the second season rolled out, that audience had halved in the US. This was masked by a stronger showing overseas.
Now a third season finished filming at the end of last year, but an extensive post-production on shows like this means it will be another year before it makes it to the screen. There is now a concern developing that there will not necessarily be much of an audience left for it by the time it eventually arrives, with 2 years having passed since season 2 was launched.
So does this mean the show is not long for this world once the third season airs? Not according to Lesley Goldberg from The Ankler (as reported by Dark Horizons).
Despite a new, incoming global head of TV at Amazon MGM Studios in the form of Peter Friedlander, the show is safe for two big reasons.
First of all, it is deemed to be “still under Bezos’ magical halo” at the studio. This refers to Amazon supremo Jeff Bezos, who is known to be as partial to a geek out as your average Outposter, so it is a property that is of particular interest to him.
The report also confirms that the plan is for five-seasons and 50-episodes, as that was the contract signed by Amazon with the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien, publisher HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. If they don’t complete The Rings Of Power in line with this agreement, there is apparently a “kill fee” of $20 million per season payable.
Maybe we could organise some sort of collection?
