Amazon Prime Video's The Rings of Power is already preparing for season 2. However, recent data suggests that when the time comes, the company won’t be able to call on as many Lord of the Rings fans as it might have expected because most viewers did not make it through its premiere season.
Since its release in September of last year, the Rings of Power had to live up to high expectations due to the enormous budget Amazon allocated towards bringing Middle Earth to life once more. Yet, by most accounts, that gamble didn’t pay off. Not only did the Rings of Power pale compared to its then competitor House of the Dragon, but the show’s viewership and reception were also a bit of a letdown, especially among die-hard J.R.R. Tolkien's readers.
Now, a new article from The Hollywood Reporter provides some extra insight into how the Rings of Power failed to gain traction. Its sources claim Rings of Power “had a 37 percent domestic completion rate (customers who watched the entire series)” in the United States. It also did not do much better in the rest of the world, as only 45% of people finished season 1. In a day and age where there is so much content, 50% would be considered decent if unspectacular, though these numbers don’t account for Rings of Power's rumored one billion dollar budget.
Rings of Power's viewership and reviews have been a controversial topic since its premiere. Some parties argued the series suffered due to review bombing attempts, yet the show only holds a 3.4 out of 5 rating on Prime Video's curated ratings. Despite all that, Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke and every executive have jumped to the show’s defense, with the former arguing that any attempts to frame the Ring of Power as unsuccessful are “not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally.”
It bears reminding that The Rings of Power is not directly based on any of Tolkien's main books like The Hobbit or The Silmarillion, but rather on the appendices of the Lord of the Rings and its wider world, something that might become a bigger issue now that Warner Bros. Discovery wants to revive the franchise. Judging from most Rings of Power reviews, the fall off after a few episodes and the fact that most people did not finish season 1 is not surprising, as the first few episodes were slower than later entries.
It's not rare for shows to gain momentum past their first season, but Rings of Power season 2 has a steep hill to climb to overcome these early setbacks.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season 2 is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter