Still from “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.”
New Line Cinema
Amazon’s television show “Lord of the Rings” is becoming a costly endeavor for the technology company.
On Friday, the New Zealand Minister of Economic Development and Tourism revealed that the fantasy drama will be one of the most expensive television series ever, with a first season price tag of about $ 465 million.
“But what I can tell you is that Amazon is going to spend about $ 650 million in season one alone,” Stuart Nash told Morning Report. The figure he provided was in local currency.
The production figure is huge and probably the largest amount a studio has spent to produce one season of television. In comparison, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” costs about $ 100 million per season. Season one episodes cost about $ 6 million each, eventually increasing to about $ 15 million in season eight.
Amazon paid about $ 250 million for the rights to Tolkien’s property in 2017.
“This will be the greatest television series ever made,” said Nash.
The figures, released as part of the New Zealand Government’s Official Information Act, were first reported by the New Zealand outlet Stuff. The report indicated that Amazon plans to film in the country for five seasons and may want to produce a spin-off series.
Amazon’s spending in New Zealand will result in a tax credit of approximately $ 114 million and is identified by the country’s Treasury as a “significant financial risk.” There is no limit to how much Amazon is allowed to spend, which is why New Zealand could hook up hundreds of millions of dollars to help subsidize the project.
However, production is likely to provide a major financial boost to the local economy as Amazon pays for local labor, hotels and food, among other things. Then there is the future tourist bump. Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” movie trilogies have been a great boon to New Zealand as they brought in travelers from all over the world.
The “Lord of the Rings” series is currently in production and is expected to debut in late 2021.