Amazon may have paid nearly $250 million for “Lord of the Rings” TV rights

The Story:

Amazon Studios is planning a streaming series for smaller screens based on the classic Lord of the Rings fantasy novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. Jeff Bezos tweeted a teaser earlier this week.

Important Because:

Lord of the Rings has a cult following all over the world, and the timing seems perfect for Amazon to hone in on some of that success. The films grossed nearly $6 billion worldwide.

Game of Thrones, which is one of the most-watched TV series in the world, will see the final curtain fall after the eighth season, expected in 2019.

Amazon now has the time it needs to get Lord of the Rings to Prime Video to fill the huge void that GoT will inevitably leave on the Prime platform.

This Happened:

Amazon on Monday announced that it had acquired global TV rights for the franchise, with a multi-seasonal commitment.

The upcoming Prime Original will be produced by Amazon Studios in collaboration with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment.

No financials were given, but Deadline says the rights acquisition has cost “close to $250 million.”

That’s just for the rights. The budget for each season is likely to be in the neighborhood of $100 to $150 million.

That’s a fairly rich investment for Amazon, and financial industry observers are already calling it “insane”; however, considering the fact that the Tolkien Estate also approached Netflix and HBO, it appears this wasn’t an opportunity they could let slip through their fingers.

Source: deadline.com

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