• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Rings of Power creators reveal why the show is so expensive as show is projected to cost $1 billion in total

Home> Film & TV> News

Published 16:57 26 Aug 2024 GMT+1

Rings of Power creators reveal why the show is so expensive as show is projected to cost $1 billion in total

Rings of Power is one of the most expensive ever put on the small screen

Michael Slavin

Michael Slavin

Ahead of the second season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the show-runners have revealed why the show is as expensive as it is.

The Rings of Power season one is one of the most expensive of all time, with the production costs coming in at around $140 million.

Despite this being higher due to the complexities of COVID-19, it doesn’t even begin to factor in the absolutely massive amount of money Amazon paid for the television rights to Lord of the Rings, which came out at $250 million.

According to reports by Deadline when Amazon made this acquisition, the projected $100-150 production budget of each season over a planned five seasons is set to lead to the show costing north of a billion dollars total.

Advert

The question is though… where does all that money go?

While the series is full of spectacle, it doesn’t have any Robert Downey Jr level names who is reported to be raking in $100 million just on his own for the next two Avengers movies.

This is a question UNILAD asked showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay in an exclusive interview with the pair.

J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. (Dave Benett via Getty Images)
J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. (Dave Benett via Getty Images)

Advert

While they jokingly added ‘reportedly’ when the show’s expense was mentioned in the question, they stated that most of the money simply goes into holding the show to the highest quality.

Patrick McKay said: “We're incredibly fortunate that Amazon looked at the scope of Tolkien's imagination and decided that it was worth the resources that it would take to bring it into fruition in the way that it deserved.

“We don't really tend to think about how much, just we tend to think about getting it right.

“We look at each of the worlds, whether it's Khazad Dum with the Dwarves, or Lindon with the Elves, or Numenor and our Halflings, and we say, what is it going to take to realize that world?

Advert

“If we can't do it in a way that, you know, is spectacular, we don't do it.”

The show is visually spectacular. (Amazon Prime)
The show is visually spectacular. (Amazon Prime)

This came ahead of the show’s second season, in which ‘spectacular’ is absolutely an adjective you’re likely to hear.

The showrunners revealed that one battle, hinted at in the trailers, is going to be a full on historical-style siege taking place over three whole episodes.

Advert

J.D. Payne said: “We wanted to do a proper siege, not just so it takes place over a matter of hours, but a matter of actually, like weeks.

“We go through a whole series of different kinds of battles within that siege battle, where there's a horse charge, then there's something involving water, then there's an aerial bombardment, and there's sort of almost trench warfare in the muck.

“There's a troll fight. There's a thing at a wall with battlements.”

They even hinted there would be ‘Stalingrad-like’ fighting in the streets, saying: “It's many different kinds of battle all taking place over the course of this one huge, epic siege.”

Advert

Rings of Power season episodes 1-3 release August 29, with episodes releasing weekly after this.

Featured Image Credit: Amazon Prime

Topics: Lord of the Rings, Amazon, Entertainment, Film and TV

Michael Slavin
Michael Slavin

Michael Slavin is a Film and TV writer for UNILAD and LADbible. After completing an English Literature with Creative Writing degree at Surrey University, followed by a Masters in International Journalism at Salford University, he began working for the Warrington Guardian as a reporter. Throughout this though, he did freelance work about Film and TV for publications such as DiscussingFilm, looking for any excuse to get to rant about films. He has now finally got that wish.

X

@MichaelSlavin98

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
16 hours ago
22 hours ago
a day ago
  • 11 hours ago

    Netflix adds all six seasons of ‘wild’ crime drama fans are hooked on

    "Now everyone else will get to finally see this hidden gem."

    Film & TV
  • 16 hours ago

    Where to watch 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later as 28 Years Later is released

    The third instalment of the franchise hits theatres in America on June 20

    Film & TV
  • 22 hours ago

    The Office fans frustrated after spotting 'weird' Netflix 'censorship' of hilarious Michael Scott scene

    Maybe you'll notice this on your next re-watch...

    Film & TV
  • a day ago

    248 million hour Netflix binge sees viewers watch all three seasons of number one show in a week

    The return of this Netflix drama has delighted fans

    Film & TV
  • Amazon suspends user reviews of Rings of Power following 'review bombing'
  • Original hobbits come out to defend Rings of Power after backlash to new Lord of the Rings series
  • The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power Drops First Trailer For New Series
  • The Rings of Power to screen first two episodes in cinemas ahead of series premiere