Will Rings of Power have fewer seasons than expected?
With a colossal budget, almost $60 million per episode, The Rings of Power is not one of those small investments. By taking over the television rights to The Lord of the Rings, the firm was expected to experience unprecedented success. The series adapted from Tolkien's writings did not disappoint the platform, which recorded the best audiences in its history at its launch in 2022. The fact remains that while many viewers came to discover the first episodes, the craze did not last. Less than half of the audience finished the series, according to an article by The Hollywood Reporter published in 2023.
The audiences of the second batch of episodes were thus scrutinized by Amazon, but also by analysis firms on American soil. The company prides itself on having gathered 40 million viewers in just 11 daysbut The methods of calculating Prime remain very vague. For example, it is not said how many minutes were watched by these millions of users. Without context, and with different calculation methods for the other hits of the streaming service, it is difficult to know if this craze is truly exceptional.
A series to surpass them all
Third-party analytics firms that analyze U.S. audiences are less confident. As reported by The Hollywood Reportera significant drop is observed in the country of Uncle Sam. According to Samba TV data, 902,000 households have started watching the first episode of season 2 in the first five days of availability. This is much less than the first episode of season 1, released two years earlier and having brought together 1.8 million homes in just four days.
For Amazon, nothing too scary here: “Of course the ratings are down, they were so huge last time”. In a letter addressed to employees, the head of Amazon Studios also explains that the international public was particularly excited by the fantasy proposal. The leader Jennifer Salke does not hesitate to advance that a new “Breakthrough season is within reach”.
And it is by turning to the international market that Prime Video could find its salvation. “We’ve seen a staggering number of our customers who have watched Rings of Power come from outside the United States, which is a testament to the series’ resonance with global audiences and the growth of the service around the world.” Prime Video is banking heavily on the international market to recoup its investment, even if American soil remains its main concern.
Prime Video sticks to original plan
If we have to wait a little longer to discover a true state of the audiences of season 2, The Hollywood Reporter gives an update on the company's strategy. From the start, Prime Video aimed to devote five seasons to the exploration of Middle-earth and the forging of the Rings of Power. According to sources close to the matter, nothing has changed for the moment. However, not everything is decided. Season 3 has been in development for several monthsbut has not yet received a real green light. This is probably just a formality.
The fact remains that beyond the audiences, Prime Video is confronted with another phenomenon. The critical reception of the series continues to be the shadow that hangs over the adventures of these heroes. On review aggregators, the gap continues to widen between the press and the public, The Rings of Power being far from unanimous among Tolkien worshipers.
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