Amazon Reaches Its Pockets: Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” series goes down in history as the most expensive series Message

The new “Lord of the Rings” series will be the most expensive series ever, at a price of $ 465 million

Amazon Prime Video clearly outperforms HBO’s Game of Thrones
The start date and number of episodes are still unknown

Not surprisingly, Amazon Prime Video’s new “The Lord of the Rings” series isn’t a bargain. But it wasn’t clear that it would be the most expensive series produced to date. With costs of $ 465 million for the first season alone, it is much more expensive than previously assumed and even exceeds the production costs of the world-famous HBO series “Game of Thrones”. Because the industry service “Deadline” and “Radio New Zealand” report unanimously, regardless of production location and costs, little information is known. The exact start date and number of episodes have yet to be determined.

The series is supported by the New Zealand government

In an interview with Radio New Zealand, New Zealand’s Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Stuart Nash, revealed that the first season alone will cost around US $ 465 million. The production costs of the first season will thus exceed the costs of the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, which, according to Kino.de, totaled $ 300 million. Initial costs of $ 500 million for all five planned seasons of the series are very likely not to be met by Amazon.

Stuart Nash also announced in an official press release from the New Zealand government that Amazon Studios will receive five percent more than originally expected from the New Zealand “screen production grant”. This would increase the proportionate support for the series from 20 to 25 percent and thus to US $ 116 million. The New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG) is a motivational program for the New Zealand government to support the production of films and series, if they instead choose New Zealand as a location and thus promote the country. “The agreement with Amazon will create local jobs and create a new wave of global brands for tourism and tourism promotion for the country,” said Stuart Nash in the press release.

The epidemic paused production – costs kept rising

Similar to the “Lord of the Rings” movies, the series also required expensive sets and costumes, according to “Deadline.com”. Amazon Studios plans to use these costs over the course of producing the series and the other seasons. The “Back-to-back” series is also produced. This means that several seasons must be filmed at the same time, but are broadcast at different times. This saved time and money while producing the movie trilogy, according to “Deadline.com”.

Director JA Bayona and his team had just launched the first two episodes when they had to cancel this past March due to the global pandemic. The shooting continued in September. Meanwhile, screenwriters about producer J.D. Bunny and Patrick McKay used the time to write the scripts for its second season.

The series features Middle Earth at a different time with familiar faces

The series is set in Middle Earth, but according to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” report, new story lines are being told for the characters of “Lord of the Rings” author JRR Tolkien. The story takes place before the events of the movies, possibly around the time the villain Sauron was still alive. Well-known faces such as Morphed Clark (Elven’s young lover Galadriel from the “Lord of the Rings” movies) or Joseph Mawle, better known as Benjen Stark from “Game of Thrones,” also play in the series.

How much the following seasons will cost is not yet clear.

Denise Pence / Redaktion finanzen.net

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