RINGS OF POWER Skyrockets Prime Video Viewership
By Movieguide® Contributor
In the month of September, Prime Video’s viewership rose by 12%, according to Nielson’s The Gauge report.
One of the contributing factors to the increase in viewership is the new series, LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER.
Per NewsBytes, “THE RINGS OF POWER became the third most-watched streaming title in September, raking in 4.3 billion viewing minutes. The release of its second season contributed to this success.”
Movieguide® previously awarded RINGS OF POWER Season 1, Episode 8 as the Best Television for Mature Audiences.
“The success was due in part to the launch of Season 2 of the series. Season 2 of the fantasy series brought with it answers to several questions left from Season 1, such as the identity of The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), and the deaths of several key characters,” the Comic Book Resource wrote.
Some of the success, as well, can be attributed to the series’ commitment to highlighting the biblical foundation of The Lord of the Rings.
For Season 2, Episode 5, Movieguide® reviewed: “The dialogue and character development for Episode Five of RINGS OF POWER: Season Two are superbly written and portrayed. Episode Five neatly brings out the Christian, biblical, moral themes in LORD OF THE RINGS. For example, it warns viewers that power tends to corrupt but urges them to courageously oppose evil with faith and values. There’s even a scene in Episode Five that warns against power-hungry rulers and higher taxes.”
Season 3 has yet to be officially greenlit by Prime Video, but showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay are working on the story.
“We’re really interested in a universe where there is ultimate evil and there is ultimate good,” said McKay, “but that doesn’t mean it’s that easy for everybody who lives within it.”
“Good and evil are very clearly defined in Tolkien[‘s] [work], and he has a very strong sense of right and wrong, and that’s present in all the work,” he continued.
The show’s misunderstood villain, Sauron, wants to rid the world of his past mistakes and creations by cleansing it. But he is clouded by his personal pursuits, even if there is some “good” in them.
“Sauron is the ultimate utilitarian,” Payne said. “He knows exactly how to heal Middle Earth and no matter who he has to betray, killing everyone else is just standing in the way.”
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