Yesterday, Amazon Prime Video shared early numbers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s 2nd season, trumpeting that “40 cardinal viewers” tuned successful crossed its archetypal 11 days. That statistic—shared by Amazon Studios main Jennifer Salke successful a memo obtained by Variety—sounds impressive, but it doesn’t specify, for instance, however galore minutes those millions of eyeballs really watched, an important information successful airy of however season one lost viewers arsenic it progressed. It’s besides not arsenic bully arsenic play one’s numbers. But it’s seemingly capable to person Amazon to instrumentality with its archetypal crippled program for the Middle-earth series.
In a Hollywood Reporter portion examining the trials and tribulations of Rings of Power—as good arsenic the existent soap opera drama swirling astir HBO’s House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin—the commercialized notes that “a 3rd play [of Rings of Power] has been successful the works for months, though it has not been officially greenlighted.” What’s more, “after seeing play two’s premiere ratings, sources archer THR the institution remains committed to the show’s archetypal five-season plan,” despite, arsenic the commercialized writes, “third-party services amusement a steep driblet [in ratings] from the series’ debut season.”
io9 reached retired to Prime Video to inquire if determination are updates connected play three, arsenic good arsenic whether oregon not the “five-season plan” study is accurate; we’ll update this station if and erstwhile we perceive back.
Set thousands of years earlier the Lord of the Rings stories radical are astir acquainted with—through J.R.R. Tolkien’s books, of course, but besides Peter Jackson’s highly popular, Oscar-winning diagnostic films—Rings of Power premiered successful 2022 to large excitement from diehard fans, TV critics, and adjacent casual viewers funny to get a look astatine what’s been called the astir costly amusement ever made (THR calls it “the $715 cardinal series”). Across play one, however, dazzling accumulation values weren’t ever capable to elevate a crippled galore recovered excessively slow-moving; the titular rings didn’t adjacent participate the communicative until the past episode.
While play 2 has picked up the gait rather a bit—there are adjacent more rings successful play now, not to notation a caller undercover individuality for main villain Sauron—some of the aforesaid complaints are inactive successful play. Speaking to THR, co-showrunner J.D. Payne made it wide he’s alert that Rings of Power haters are retired there. “The Fellowship had to look to each other, and those who enactment it, and retrieve what it’s warring for,” helium told the trade. “And erstwhile we spot that millions of radical are watching this and responding truthful positively to it—that’s who we’re warring for. And those who ticker each occurrence and [negatively] constitute astir it connected societal media and marque YouTube videos, we’re blessed to person you guys, too. It wouldn’t beryllium a travel done Middle-earth without immoderate trolls on the way.”
The 5th occurrence of play two—which, similar play one, runs a full of 8 episodes—arrives tomorrow, September 12, connected Prime Video. Will you instrumentality astir for five seasons of Rings of Power, if Prime Video truly does extremity up going the distance?
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