The show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power attracted more than twenty-five million viewers for its first two episodes that were released on Thursday, Amazon said on Saturday.
The audience is “breaking all previous records, marking the biggest premiere in the history of Prime Video,” the company added.
Amazon Studios chief, Jennifer Salke, called the series and the initial response a “proud moment” for the company.
“It is the tens of millions of fans watching—clearly as passionate about Middle-earth as we are—who are our true measure of success,” she said in the press release.
It is the first time Amazon has revealed the number of viewers for its programming. However, Amazon did not say how this compared to other shows on the platform, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings the most expensive television production in history
The show, based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, is the most expensive television production in history with a budget for the first season alone of about $1 billion.
The new series has a special place in the heart of Amazon founder and Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos, who was central to efforts to win the rights. Bezos said that even his son hoped for the best after telling his father: “Please, don’t eff this up,” Yahoo Finance reports.
The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular fantasy franchises of all time. Based on the book sequel of the same name, the six films are divided into two trilogies: The Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit prequels.
New episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will be available weekly with the season finale on October 14th.
Earlier this year, Amazon spent $8.5 billion to acquire MGM, pointing to longer-term ambitions in entertainment. MGM’s library includes the James Bond and Rocky franchises.
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