Amazon executiveJennifer Salkeis speaking out about the enormous $465 million price tag that the studio is paying for its upcomingLord of the Ringsseason duringa recent Hollywood Reporter roundtablewith top entertainment executives. Whenearly reportsof Amazon’sLord of the Ringsprice tag began to surface, people were in awe of the bloated budget. Considering each season ofGame of Thronescost about 100 million on average, the thought of a fantasy world with over four times that budget is staggering. However, if there’s a fantasy world to use every bit of that monster budget on, it’sJ.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
Here’s what Salke had to say when asked about what that price tag says about the industry today, as well as what Amazon has to deliver to justify it:
“The market is crazy, as you saw with the Knives Out deal. [Netflix paid $469 million for two sequels.] This is a full season of a huge world-building show. The number is a sexy headline or a crazy headline that’s fun to click on, but that is really building the infrastructure of what will sustain the whole series. But it is a crazy world and various people on this Zoom, mostly Bela and me, have been in bidding situations where it starts to go incredibly high. There’s a lot of wooing and we have to make decisions on where we want to stretch and where we want to draw the line. As for how many people need to watch Lord of the Rings? A lot. (Laughs.) A giant, global audience needs to show up to it as appointment television, and we are pretty confident that that will happen.”
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With the announcement that the show’s plot will be focusing on the Second Age of Middle-earth, Tolkien fans everywhere began speculating. From detailing the rise and fall of the island of Númenor to bringing the elf-capital city of Lindon and the familiar Misty Mountains to life, Amazon’sLord of the Ringshas access to plenty of lands, kingdoms, characters and creatures from Tolkien’s writings to flex its budget in their portrayal on-screen. It will be interesting to see where that money is allocated, as Salke described. The series certainly has the potential to capture that giant, global audience that the studio is pursuing, especially with the promise of a brand new story taking place thousands of years before the events from the film trilogy. Until it arrives,Lord of the Ringsfans will be waiting nervously.
Amazon’sLord of the Ringsseries has no premiere date, though production on Season 1 is underway. The show hasalready been renewed for a second season.
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