Amazon Studios has been a smash hit with Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power. Production is underway for the second season of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Fantasy TV adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal work. rather than conditioning the essence the Lord of the Rings An epic for TV (much in the same way that Peter Jackson adapted the books into a trilogy of films), Amazon Studios has taken a gamble by creating a sequel, focusing on the creation of the Rings of Power and Sauron’s rise during the Second Age. Amazon’s gambit paid off, as the new show (according to Amazon) was watched by more than 100 million people worldwide, with 25 million viewers watching the show on the first day alone. Not only rings of power Shattering every previous Prime Video record for most viewers, it also drove more new Prime Video signings during its launch than any other show or movie.
ComicBook.com had the opportunity to chat with Vernon Sanders, Head of Global Television at Amazon Studios, about the success of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, compete with HBO Dragon house and Prime Video’s investment in genre franchises. “I hope so Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Of his expectations for the show, Sanders said that “it will be successful, but with a mix of healthy concerns.” As a titanic endeavor, I often describe putting together a TV show as 100 arranged marriages all happening at the same time. And so rings of power It may have been a quad given its size, scope and how international it is. But I was excited to take on the challenge and I think it’s one of the things we’re very proud of here doing ambitious things. And within our halls, we often call ourselves the home of the genre. So trying to make something that is so beloved by so many people I think has been daunting, but also really special.”
with success Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power And Amazon Studios releases other high-profile projects like Circumferential time wheel And just announced Warhammer 40K live-action franchise, we followed that up by asking Sanders if Amazon uses genre shows to separate itself from other streaming platforms. Sanders replied, “Well, it definitely paid off for itself.” “It’s a big gamble and the success we’ve had has been rewarded. So that’s incredibly comforting and satisfying. When you think about Amazon, the beginnings of the company were about books and storytelling, and so it’s in the company’s DNA, which is why I think we tell stories and connect with authors.” Whether it’s Neil Gaiman or Jack Carr, I think that’s one of the things we do very well.”
“When we make great versions of this content, fans of that content really respond in a way that’s big and impactful for us as a company,” Sanders said. “I’m a comic book fan. I think we have fans of stories and novels across the company, and so I think it makes sense that this content would resonate with us. And yeah, you’ll see more ads in the not too distant future for the other beloved stuff we’re hoping to adapt here as well. PrimeVideo”. As if to underscore Sanders’ point, just one day after our interview, Amazon Studios announced plans to work with Henry Cavill on an adaptation. Warhammer 40K In a cinematic universe full of shows.
while Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power Successful from a “minute show” standpoint, the show had to contend with an emotional response from fans. While some loved expanding on the more obscure parts of Middle-earth’s lore, others were annoyed by the truncated timeline and other deviations from the source material. “We did our own study with thousands of people, including thousands the Lord of the Rings To really have a conversation with them as they went down each episode to understand how they reacted, Sanders said when asked about Amazon’s opinions on how fans reacted. And I think we got a lot of those the Lord of the rings Book lovers and movie lovers. We also know that there were some fans who had issues or didn’t feel like this was what they were expecting or doing the way they expected it to be, which is normal. I think when you take something that’s so beloved you probably have a strong reaction and have some people who aren’t on board with it. ”
However, Sanders felt it was very important to create something of quality, and that was true of Tolkien as much as they could do within the parameters of their license. “With the help of Simon Tolkien and the Tolkien drug, I think it gave us some relief because we were doing the best we could and it meant a lot to have their endorsement,” Sanders said.
From there the conversation turned to competition between rings of power And the Dragon house HBO’s show game of thrones which was launched a few weeks later rings of power. Both shows had parallel seven-week releases, shifting the broader conversation about the cross-section of pop culture and fantasy. Sanders said when asked about his reaction to HBO choosing to launch their fantasy series at the same time as rings of power. “If I were them, I would probably do the same thing.”
However, Sanders noted that both shows would need to stand on their own, and he felt that rings of power can benefit from it Dragon house come out at the same time. “Actually, that’s what I think happened,” Sanders said. “We made our offer knowing it game of thrones It’s going to be something people think about, and that property is a different tone. We really went back to the script to try and guide us to what we felt was right rings of power. And so, having both shows at the same time, I actually think drew a lot of interest from fantasy fans. There are people who liked their show more. There are people who liked our show more. There are people who liked both and some people who didn’t like either. But if you’re a fan of the genre and you think about the history of television, it’s a great time to make those kinds of things and/or come out soon after.”
While we didn’t want to ask too many questions about specifics rings of power Narratively, we had to ask about choosing to keep Sauron’s identity a mystery, which eventually paid off. “One of the challenges of this show, when you’re adapting something, is telling a story that people are excited to see, but sometimes find ways to surprise them,” Sanders said. “Sauron, I’m going to discuss the greatest villain of all time. And how do you get to know that one? How do you understand how they work? What are the layers there? And I think it’s because of the way the story is told and because of the great performance of Charlie [Vickers] and morphed [Clark]I think fans now have an idea of whether he cheated on them or if they knew it all along, there’s a much more human side to this character, and I’m really excited for people to see Sauron unleashed in season two.”
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