For the first season of Lord of the Rings, Amazon estimates production costs of nearly $500 million.
There are new details on Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, the first season of which is currently being shot in New Zealand. The local government supports Amazon financially in the implementation. Stuart Nash, New Zealand’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Tourism, has announced the production costs for the first season of Lord of the Rings on Radio New Zealand.
The New Zealand government is assuming part of the production costs to make it palatable to Amazon to shoot the series in New Zealand. Based on these agreements, the Ministry of Economic Affairs knows the total cost of production. According to Nash, the cost of producing the first season of Lord of the Rings will be around $465 million. This makes the first season of Lord of the Rings the most expensive series ever produced.
The successful fantasy series Game of Thrones from HBO cost about 100 million US dollars per season – and was one of the most expensive series at the time. The first season of the Star Wars series The Mandalorian is also said to have cost around 100 million US dollars to produce.
More Seasons Of Lord Of The Rings Are Coming
Amazon could plan five seasons for Lord of the Rings, but exact details are not yet available. Subsequent seasons could have lower production costs than the first season because there is a lot of pioneering work required at the beginning that does not need to be done afterwards. Still, additional seasons could cost more than $ 100 million to produce.
The first season is currently still being shot, but Lord of the Rings is set to be released on Prime Video at the end of 2021. Amazon wants to copy the success of Game of Thrones with the fantasy series and gain so many new subscribers for Prime Video.
Amazon is shooting the Lord of the Rings series in collaboration with the film production company New Line Cinema, which was also involved in the production of the Lord of the Rings movies. There is also a partnership with the book publisher Harper Collins and Tolkien Estate and Trust – which owns the rights to the works of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien.
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