Series / News
Prime Video Made The Most Expensive Series Ever Produced; A Staggering $715 Million Was Paid For The First Season Of This Fantasy Legend
Amazon is making history with its investment of $715 million in The Rings of Power, the most expensive series ever made, setting a new benchmark in entertainment production.
Amazon opened its wallet for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power like no one else ever has. The rights alone cost $250 million, followed by around $465 million for the first season. This makes The Rings of Power the most expensive series to date, totaling $715 million.
The first season consists of eight episodes, which comes down to roughly $58 million per episode. In comparison, an episode of The Crown costs around $13 million, while Game of Thrones and The Mandalorian are around $15 million, and Marvel series like WandaVision and Hawkeye would cost about $25 million per episode. However, a part of the investment in The Rings of Power is a one-time expense: sets, costumes, and props can be reused over multiple seasons. Since Amazon is aiming for at least five seasons, the extremely high startup costs are spread over a longer duration.
Producers primarily point to the scale of the world-building. Complete cities, fortresses, and landscapes need to be designed, built, and then digitally expanded. The foreground consists of large sets on location or in studios, while mountains, cities, and massive battles are supplemented with computer animation. In previous Dutch war films, a relatively modest amount of visual effects already cost up to one and a half million euros, with high daily personnel costs for each specialist. For an international fantasy series like this, the numbers of people and shooting days skyrocket exponentially.
The costs also accumulate in the physical effects department. The orcs in The Rings of Power do not wear simple masks, but elaborate prosthetics made up of multiple parts. First, faces and components are sculpted, followed by molds, silicone, hair, and paint. In Hollywood, there is a specialized team for every step. In the Netherlands, a small group often handles everything, whereas here, experts from around the world join in, each with their own hourly rates and delivery times.
Financially, The Rings of Power is primarily a strategic tool. With an extremely expensive prestige project, Prime Video aims to stand out globally and attract new subscribers. The logic is that millions of viewers will sign up for such big titles and then keep paying monthly. At the same time, there is skepticism: every viewer must first take out a subscription instead of purchasing a standalone movie ticket, and the competition from other services is fierce. This is precisely why streamers opt for a few very expensive series as a business card. The Rings of Power is the most pronounced example of this. The series scores rather poorly on IMDb with a mere 6.9.
The first season consists of eight episodes, which comes down to roughly $58 million per episode. In comparison, an episode of The Crown costs around $13 million, while Game of Thrones and The Mandalorian are around $15 million, and Marvel series like WandaVision and Hawkeye would cost about $25 million per episode. However, a part of the investment in The Rings of Power is a one-time expense: sets, costumes, and props can be reused over multiple seasons. Since Amazon is aiming for at least five seasons, the extremely high startup costs are spread over a longer duration.
World-building And Digital Effects
Producers primarily point to the scale of the world-building. Complete cities, fortresses, and landscapes need to be designed, built, and then digitally expanded. The foreground consists of large sets on location or in studios, while mountains, cities, and massive battles are supplemented with computer animation. In previous Dutch war films, a relatively modest amount of visual effects already cost up to one and a half million euros, with high daily personnel costs for each specialist. For an international fantasy series like this, the numbers of people and shooting days skyrocket exponentially.
The costs also accumulate in the physical effects department. The orcs in The Rings of Power do not wear simple masks, but elaborate prosthetics made up of multiple parts. First, faces and components are sculpted, followed by molds, silicone, hair, and paint. In Hollywood, there is a specialized team for every step. In the Netherlands, a small group often handles everything, whereas here, experts from around the world join in, each with their own hourly rates and delivery times.
An Expensive Business Card For Prime Video
Financially, The Rings of Power is primarily a strategic tool. With an extremely expensive prestige project, Prime Video aims to stand out globally and attract new subscribers. The logic is that millions of viewers will sign up for such big titles and then keep paying monthly. At the same time, there is skepticism: every viewer must first take out a subscription instead of purchasing a standalone movie ticket, and the competition from other services is fierce. This is precisely why streamers opt for a few very expensive series as a business card. The Rings of Power is the most pronounced example of this. The series scores rather poorly on IMDb with a mere 6.9.
