The excitement leading into The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was off the charts.
The highly-anticipated series, which is reportedly the most expensive TV show in history, got off the ground running with 25 million viewers in its first day.
Deadline reported the news, revealing that those numbers make it the best and biggest premiere in Prime Video’s 15-year history.
“It is somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories – among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre – have led us to this proud moment,” said Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke today.
“I am so grateful to the Tolkien Estate – and to our showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, executive producer Lindsey Weber, cast and crew – for their tireless collaborative efforts and boundless creative energy.”
“And 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.”
Five seasons are planned, and these early numbers are very good.
Prime Video typically doesn’t release raw viewership statistics, so it is surprising the service was transparent about these premiere numbers.
This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
“From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone,” the logline teases.
The cast includes Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, Nazanin Boniadi, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Charles Edwards, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, and Ema Horvath.
Also along for the TV adaptation is Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Lloyd Owen, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, Daniel Weyman, and Sara Zwangobani.
New episodes air Fridays on Prime Video.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.