Summary
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerhas remained the most controversial project in theLord of the Ringsfranchise through two seasons on streaming, but the show is getting another chance to win over fans still on the fence about it.
While Warner Bros has long been the custodian of the iconicLord of the Rings,The Rings of Powerwas Amazon’s ploy to muscle into both the iconicLord of the Ringsfranchise and the fertile grounds of sprawling fantasy shows that Game of Thrones had shown the potential of over its highly successful run. With a massive initial investment and a questionable creative approach based on expanding on lore in the appendices of Tolkien’s works rather than a more direct adaptation,The Rings of Powerwas immediately divisive and would only become more so over the course of its first season. The show did little to shake this status quo in the next installment, but there was a contingent of fans thatfelt thatThe Rings of Powerdeserves a third season.
Thanks in no small part toThe Rings of Power’simpressive performance against competition, Amazon Studios seems to wholeheartedly agree with those fans. As reported byTheWrap, Amazon has now officially renewed the show for a third season as per an official statement from Vernon Sanders, Head of Television at Amazon MGM Studios. “‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ continues to captivate audiences worldwide, and we’re thrilled that a third season is underway. The creative team has an extraordinary vision of what’s to come with stories that have left us enchanted and enthralled,” Sanders said. “We look forward to continuing this epic journey for our global customers, delving even deeper into the legendary tales that shaped Middle-earth.” Alongside the show’s renewal is the addition of Stefan Schwartz as a director for multiple episodes, alongside Charlotte Brändström and Sanaa Hamri, who both worked on episodes from prior installments.
While it was previouslyreported thatLord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerhad started production on season three, there was no official word on any such developments and some sources were skeptical that the show’s divisive nature would carry it through another renewal. However, this official confirmation seems to show that Amazon, which touted the show as one of the strongest drivers for new Prime membership sign-ups at a certain point, is doubling down on the initial plans for the show, which saw the company spend a billion dollars with five seasons in mind. This seems to be a no-brainer, as the show remains popular despite its divisive nature and has paid some dividends for the company. Furthermore, it would be a strategic blunder to let go of the show at this time. Justifying the massive upfront and episode-by-episode costs aside, the competition that Amazon Studios had in mind when greenlighting the idea is still firing. While Game of Thrones is long over and House of The Dragon has lost some of its initial steam, the GoT franchise still has a lot more coming to HBO and Max.
A third season of The Rings of Power is great, but it has a lot to prove. While both parties share a uniform failure to live up to the past greatness of the franchise, Amazon is still behind WBD on theLord of the Ringsfront, and by a mile. WB has doubled down on Lord of the Rings hard alongside the rest of its strong IP collection, with the next big move from the company beingThe War of the Rohirrimhitting Max at the tail end of the month. While the studio has already committed to multiple films released over the next few years, the real threat to Amazon’s chances might be WBD seeing the potential in an animated streaming show that could more directly compete withThe Rings of Power.In the meantime, fans can simply wait and see what the show has coming in season three.
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris available to stream on Amazon’s Prime Video.
