It was all of yesterday when we were marveling at Netflix spending $30 million per episode for Stranger Things season four. “Hold my mead,” says Lord of the Rings.
In an article about the cost of the Game of Thrones spinoff series, House of the Dragon (more on that later), Variety confirmed that the first season of Prime Video’s upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be eight episodes long with a budget of $465 million. That’s $58 million PER EPISODE. Two episodes of the Lord of the Rings show will cost more than the entire eight-episode final season of Game of Thrones.
Speaking of Thrones, House of the Dragon has a $20 million/per episode budget. How will it cost less than Stranger Things, despite the numerous dragons flying around? Not to mention all the expensive wigs. “The production insider says HBO is now so adept at these world-building series through years of not just Game of Thrones, but also producing Westworld and His Dark Materials, that the team can make a high-quality series as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Variety reports.
The smallest person can change the course of the future, but only the biggest streaming services can spend gobs of money on adaptations of fantasy novels.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on Prime Video on September 2, while House of the Dragon debuts on HBO on August 21.
(Via Variety)