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The first official teaser trailer for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the much-awaited Amazon Prime fantasy drama series, is all set to premiere on February 13, 2022. The first-look video of reportedly the most expensive project in the history of the TV series will be launched during Super Bowl LVI.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will chronicle the forging of the original rings of power that granted the Dark Lord Sauron the power of spreading darkness all over Middle-earth.
The impressive long ensemble cast entails Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Robert Aramayo, Maxim Baldry, Morfydd Clark, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Trystan Gravelle, Charles Edwards, Sir Lenny Henry, Markella Kavenagh, Ema Horvath, Joseph Mawle, Sophia Nomvete, Tyroe Muhafidin, Lloyd Owen, Dylan Smith, Megan Richards, Charlie Vickers, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman Leon Wadham, and Sara Zwangobani.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Budget explored
How expensive is Amazon's The Lord of the Rings?
The production for this enormous fantasy drama series was mostly shot in New Zealand. However, last fall, it was revealed that the production was relocated to the U.K. Reportedly, Amazon will be spending approximately NZ$650 million which is $465 million in U.S. dollars just for the first season of the series. It is far beyond the previously reported expense estimation that classified The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as amounting to an already jaw-droppingly record-breaking $500 million for multiple seasons of the series.
The New Zealand minister for economic development and tourism, Stuart Nash, said in a recent interview,
“What I can tell you is Amazon is going to spend about $650 million in season one alone, This is fantastic, it really is … this will be the largest television series ever made.”
The expense report was disclosed as a significant part of the Official Information Act of the New Zealand government and primarily revealed by Stuff, the New Zealand outlet. The official documents confirmed Amazon's plan as well to shoot five seasons potentially in New Zealand.
The jaw-dropping Amazon Prime's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's total cost almost definitely does not showcase the first season's production expenses alone. The Tolkien property's rights cost approximately $250 million. Apart from that, there are multiple startup expenses when invoking Middle-earth to life, including sets, props, and costumes that will be utilized throughout the show.
The Studios' astounding expenses are most likely to trigger a tax rebate of NZ$160 million which is 114 million in U.S dollars. This has become somewhat a controversy in New Zealand as the government could land on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to assist in subsidizing Amazon’s epic fantasy drama series.
Reportedly, the treasury of New Zealand has recognized the series as a “significant fiscal risk” as there is no circumscribed upside to how much Amazon, and therefore, the government, might be spending. However, others have highlighted the uplift in local spending by production and most certainly the tourism wave from fans of The Lord of the Rings outranks the taxpayer-funded reactions.
Amazon Studios took the rights to the beloved Middle-earth franchise of J.R.R. Tolkien in 2017, and initially, it was estimated that the series could potentially end up being the world’s first TV series to cost 1 billion dollars after calculating in production costs, rights deals, and marketing for multiple seasons.
The first season of The Lord of the Rings will debut on September 2, 2022, exclusively on Prime Video and will air in 240 territories all across the world. New episodes are set to be launched weekly.
