Frankly, I didn’t even know Prime had that many subscribers. Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has set a new Amazon Prime Premiere viewership record as the show raked in over 25 million views on its debut showing.
I almost spit out the water I was drinking when I first saw these viewership numbers. I knew that Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings was very popular, but I didn’t realize it was still THIS popular.
There has been so much negativity surrounding the franchise ever since the release of the Hobbit trilogy back in 2012, though even more so now. With so many people ranting and criticizing this new series, I honestly thought that this show wouldn’t pull in the viewership numbers House of the Dragon did (10M views) during its premiere, let alone nearly tripling it.
Though, I really shouldn’t be surprised as the Lord of the Rings fanbase, whether they hate or love the new projects, has always come out in waves to watch the new content. Yet even though this show has been watched by so many people, can Amazon and the Rings of Power really survive the overwhelming amount of hate and negativity they’re getting?
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power currently sits on an 84% approval rating with the critics on Rotten Tomatoes (which is a reasonable score, in my opinion) and a 38% score with the audience. Ouch.
And it’s not much better on other reviewing platforms, such as IMDb (6.6/10) or Google Users (68%).
Yeah, not a great situation for Amazon.
Personally, I don’t think those first two episodes were anywhere near as bad as the current audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. I actually think they were really good, and I would be more than willing to watch more, but, then again, I’m not a Tolkien purist. Or even really that much of a fanatic about his works.
Yes, I enjoy the movies and the concepts he created in his novels and works, but I’m not as invested/knowledgeable in the lore and mythology as many other are.
Thus, I’m in no position to judge if the Tolkien purists and superfans are justified in their low ratings. The only thing I feel obligated to comment on in this this situation is if Amazon can continue to produce this show when SO MANY Tolkien purists and superfans hate it?
These people are the spines of so many fictional T.V. shows/movies/franchises around today that its almost unthinkable for a studio to produce a $1B project just for the ‘casual’ fans (such as myself). A human needs a spine like a fictional universe needs loyal fans.
If a show about a fictional universe is not attracting the loyal fan’s interest of said universe, it’s doomed to fail. Right?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Amazon) (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Official Trailer | Prime Video – YouTube)
