A new rumor surfaced claiming Amazon’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show will make or break the corporation’s streaming future.
The new rumor (via Business Insider) comes from “anonymous sources” with connections to Amazon Prime, noting the $1 billion with a B series will “determine the future” of Amazon Prime, in its entirety. Should the new series flop, Amazon will reportedly be reevaluating the purpose of Amazon Studios.
“The reason why it’s going to succeed is because the executives at Amazon need it to succeed,” the source said. “If it doesn’t succeed, there’s going to be a big question from Andy Jassy and the board. If we can’t take this piece of IP and make it successful, why is Amazon Studios even here? It has to succeed. There’s no option.”
Amazon reportedly bought the TV rights for the Lord of the Rings franchise for $250 million, but only for a TV series not based on Tolkien’s legendary novel The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Instead, Amazon could only produce an eight-episode or less series based on the Tolkien’s appendices and other miscellaneous work.
Thus, The Rings of Power is set in Middle-earth’s second age, but confusingly features key figures like Galadriel and Elrond with younger actors (elves don’t age), among other confusing choices.
Other odd choices include dark-skinned elves, dwarves, and hobbits (there were none in Tolkien’s work), and even female orcs (Tolkien’s original explanation was that orcs were born from mud and slime).
The Rings of Power was announced nearly five years ago, and during its production Amazon has reportedly put in at least $1 billion to its production. Its massive budget has made it reportedly the most expensive TV show ever made, topping even HBO’s masterpiece Rome.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set to premiere exclusively via Amazon Prime Video on September 2nd, 2022.
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