The first season of Amazon’s highly anticipated Lord of the Rings show will cost around $465 million to produce. The news comes via The Hollywood Reporter, which states it has confirmed the incredible cost of Season 1.
The series is currently shooting in New Zealand. The cost of the season was initially revealed by Stuart Nash, the country’s Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, who said that “Amazon is going to spend about $650 million in Season 1 alone,” referring to the cost in New Zealand dollars. While Amazon has not commented on this, THR has confirmed the figure as correct.
This is considerably higher than the $500 million that was initially reported as the cost for the first two seasons, and will make it it the most expensive show ever made. However, Amazon will be gaining a considerable tax rebate of US $114 million. This means the New Zealand government will, in effect, be subsidizing the show’s production, but the employment and potential tourism it will create is considerable.
The Lord of the Rings series doesn’t have a confirmed title or release date yet. While plot details are currently under wraps, we know it will be set in the Second Age, which is long before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Amazon has released a synopsis, but it doesn’t reveal any new details beyond the fact it will feature characters “both familiar and new.” The showrunners are JD Payne and Patrick McKay, and the first two episodes are directed by Jurassic World: Dominion’s J.A. Bayona.
The cast includes Roberto Aramayo (Nocturnal Animals), Morfydd Clark (Crawl), Owain Arthur (The Palace), and Ismael Cruz Cordova (Ray Donovan). In March, actor Tom Budge revealed he had left the show, stating that Amazon had “decided to go in another direction with the character I was portraying.”
