We get some insights into Amazon Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 1 as it is said more than half of the viewers stopped watching the series.
Amazon coughed up close to a half billion dollars for the first season, making Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power the most expensive TV show of all time in addition to a quarter of a billion just for the rights.
Worth a mention is that the series was developed by two showrunners with hardly any Hollywood experience between them.
Fans disappointed by Season 1
Following the series airing on Prime Video, fans took to Rotten Tomatoes and disapprovingly gave the flick a “rotten” score of only 38%, and on IMDb, the rating is 7.0.
To put things in perspective, the three Peter Jackson films have Rotten Tomatoes Audience scores of 95%, 95%, and 86%, and IMDb ratings of 8.8., 8.8. and 9.0.
No buzz for Rings of Power
What is also interesting is that following the premiere of the first episode, Amazon Prime Video announced Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power scored record ratings with more than 25 million viewers on its first day.
However, according to YouTuber Grace Randolph, more than half the viewers bailed on the show, which makes sense judging from the Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score.
While covering Amazon Prime Video’s Wheel of Time Season 2, Randolph compared the series to Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power in that both shows get no buzz.
“Nobody talks about Wheel of Time. I don’t talk about it. It doesn’t trend on social media. Nobody makes videos about it,” she says.
Randolph continues, “It’s like the Lord of the Rings show. Apparently, people watch it, and then they’re content. They don’t need to talk about it at all. They’re like, ‘Yep, watched that.’ What a weird fandom.”
More than 55% of viewers stopped watching
Regarding the mass exodus of viewers from Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power, Randolph says at least 55% of viewers stopped watching and hints at more as she doesn’t reveal the real number due to not wanting to get into trouble.
“Speaking of the Lord of the Rings show, that was another ridiculously expensive and turns out stupid deal,” she says. “I heard the complete rate on Lord of the Rings, I’ll just say, it was under 45%.”
Randolph continues and whispers, “It was under that but I’m just trying to, you know, not get into trouble.”
So if the complete rate was lower, that could be 40%, which would mean 60% of viewers stopped watching, or even more didn’t completely finish watching all eight episodes.
Update: The completion rate is 37%, so that means 63% of fans didn’t finish watching the series.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 is happening
Amazon Prime Video has announced a Season 2 which includes news some of the directors from Season 1 won’t be returning and that Season 2 will feature an all-female director team. Ciarán Hinds, Rory Kinnear, and Tanya Moodie have also joined the Season 2 cast.
“But they have to make a second season because they spent so much money on it. They’re stuck. But it is not good,” says Randolph. “So I think Hollywood by the way needs to get back to those backend deals because they’re paying way too much up front. I mean it’s ridiculous.”
She continues, “Although it’s great for talent and people who own these brands because they don’t have to put their money where their mouth is or, you know, they’re like, ‘They don’t have to see how it performs.’ They just go, ‘Thank you, good luck to you. I couldn’t do anything with it, but maybe you can.’ I mean, you certainly want to if you paid that much for it.”
Lord of the Rings: The Rings Of Power Season 2 is expected in 2024.
New projects in development separate from Amazon
Separate from Amazon, Warner Bros. is also developing The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim anime and new live-action films with Middle-earth Enterprises which owns the exclusive worldwide rights to the motion picture, games, merchandising, stage, and other rights for Tolkein literary works including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
While Rings of Power didn’t want the involvement of Peter Jackson (they initially asked him to be involved but then cut off contact), the new Lord of the Rings movies have Jackson involved.
