Amazon's 'The Lord of the Rings' Series Will Reportedly Cost $500 Million

It's shaping up to be the most expensive series of all time.

Boss Jeff Bezos reportedly wants Amazon to have its own drama to rival HBO's "Game of Thrones." Enter "The Lord of the Rings." We already knew the prequel series would be expensive -- considering Amazon offered $250 million to nab the rights alone. Now Reuters has a new report on that front, quoting internal Amazon documents and inside sources.

One of those sources said production and marketing for Amazon's "Lord of the Rings" series could push costs to "$500 million or more for two seasons." As MarketWatch noted, "That's a higher amount than the combined budgets of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy (reportedly $281 million, minus marketing costs)." If they're saying $500M for two seasons, then it would average $250M per season, which is still astronomical.

In terms of TV show comparisons, "Game of Thrones" is said to cost at least $10-$15 million an episode, with the final season having six episodes. Netflix's "The Crown" was reportedly the most expensive TV production ever at $130 million. This LOTR series definitely sounds like more. It's ambitious!

Reuters added that, at $500 million, Amazon's LOTR prequel "would cost triple what Amazon paid for 'The Man in the High Castle' seasons one and two, the documents show. That means it would need to draw three times the number of Prime members as 'The Man in the High Castle' for an equal payoff."

Read Reuters full report for more Amazon cost/viewing comparisons. There's certainly a lot of curiosity about the new "Lord of the Rings" series -- which hasn't even announced any castings or filming yet -- so there's definitely a chance it will draw three times the viewers as Amazon's "The Man in the High Castle."

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