Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke says The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be sticking to its 50-episode commitment, despite losing almost half of its viewership for the second season.
“[That 50-episode] commitment is never the thing that’s driving what we’re doing,” Salke told Variety. “We’ll continue to make the show as long as we see global customers loving it and watching it to the point where – it is a business.
“Obviously, we need a large amount of people showing up. And there are a large amount of people, so there’s no debate about whether or not the show will continue.”
Salke added: “There’s well over 150 million viewers watching and engaging with the show. So I feel really good. I think we all do.”
According to data from Samba TV (via Deadline), 902,000 households in the US watched the premiere episode of the new season within four dates of its debut.
This is quite a dip compared to season one, where within three days of viewing, 1.8million households comparatively had seen the first episode.
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A synopsis of the new season, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, reads: “Sauron has returned. Cast out by Galadriel, without army or ally, the rising Dark Lord must now rely on his own cunning to rebuild his strength and oversee the creation of the Rings of Power, which will allow him to bind all the peoples of Middle-earth to his sinister will.
“Building on Season One’s epic scope and ambition, the new season plunges even its most beloved and vulnerable characters into a rising tide of darkness, challenging each to find their place in a world that is increasingly on the brink of calamity.
“Elves and dwarves, orcs and men, wizards and Harfoots… as friendships are strained and kingdoms begin to fracture, the forces of good will struggle ever more valiantly to hold on to what matters to them most of all…each other.”
The show’s cast is led by Morfydd Clark as Galadriel, alongside Lenny Henry, Ciarán Hinds and Rory Kinnear, with Jack Lowden joining as a young Sauron.
The show has proved divisive among critics so far, but in a four-star review of the new season, NME wrote: “The action comes to a head in an epic battle told across two episodes, balanced against some excellent character work (and surprising deaths). Those who complained that nothing happened in House Of The Dragon’s sophomore effort will thrill at how The Rings Of Power refuses to slump.”
“Indeed, the second season improves on the first, sharpening its narrative and taking assured footsteps forward as the writers continues to tell this expansive tale. Let’s just hope the series doesn’t make like the hobbits and end up going in circles.”
Meanwhile, it was announced last May that a new Lord Of The Rings film will be released by Warner Bros. in 2026, with help from Peter Jackson.