5 expensive shows like The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Nowadays, several expensive shows are being produced that involve detailed sets, top-notch special effects, and a star-studded ensemble cast. A legion of people subscribe to streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video to be a part of these immersive experiences from the comfort of their homes. An enormous budget also helps to accurately portray fantastical imaginations as it allows the usage of some of the best CGI teams.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, one of the most anticipated series of 2022, is reportedly the most expensive show to be ever made. The series is scheduled to premiere its eight-episode first season on Prime Video on September 2, 2022. Developed by showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the series will feature an ensemble cast of both familiar and new characters.
Morfydd Clark and Robert Aramayo play a young Galadriel and a young Elrond, respectively.
The series is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The series follows the long-feared re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth. The showrunners have stated:
“The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.”
Recreating Tolkien's vision of Middle-earth required the best CGI teams, make-up artists, set and costume designers, which in turn demanded an extremely high budget.
Stuart Nash, New Zealand's minister for economic development and tourism, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Amazon has spent a whopping USD 465 million to produce the first season of the show, bringing the per episode cost to around USD 58 million.
However, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is among a host of other expensive shows.
Stranger Things and 4 other high budget shows
1) Stranger Things
Created by the Duffer Brothers, Stranger Things premiered on Netflix in July, 2016. The popular show achieved record viewership upon the release of its fourth season in two parts in May and July 2022. It has also been renewed for a concluding fifth season.
The series is set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana and deals with supernatural events and their impact on the characters of the show.
The critically-acclaimed and multiple award-winning series is also one of the most expensive shows ever made. The production value of the fourth season reached an all-time high of USD 275 million. The nine-episode season costs around USD 30 million per episode.
2) House of the Dragon
House of the Dragon is a spin-off prequel series to David Benioff and D.B. Weiss' Game of Thrones, the eight-season-long groundbreaking fantasy drama that took the world by storm in 2011. The first season of House of the Dragon premiered on HBO Max on August 21 2022, and contains ten episodes.
The show is based on George R. R. Martin's fantasy novel Fire & Blood, which is set in the world of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire that chronicles the history of the Targaryen family. The series will also draw material from two novellas, The Princess and the Queen, and The Rogue Prince. The story is set about 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen.
Created by screenwriter Ryan J. Condal and director Miguel Sapochnik, with Martin himself serving as an executive producer, the series will focus on the events leading up to the Dance of the Dragons, a bloody and brutal Targaryen war of succession that pitted various Targaryen family members and their companion dragons against each other. This battle ultimately led to the downfall of House Targaryen.
The show features 17 dragons differentiated by their looks and personalities. It goes without saying that such a setting requires a high budget, making House of the Dragon another extremely expensive show. According to Variety, the first season cost around USD 200 million, with each episode having a budget of nearly USD 20 million.
3) WandaVision
Created by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman, the show is based on the Marvel Comics character Wanda Maximoff (played by Elizabeth Olsen) and her husband Vision (played by Paul Bettany). The show premiered on Disney+ in January 2021.
The show is set after the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019) and follows Wanda's journey as she lives with Vision and their two kids in an idyllic suburban town of Westview, New Jersey. However, they soon realize that something is amiss when their reality starts moving through different decades of sitcoms and television tropes.
The Emmy-winning series pays tribute to sitcoms from many eras of American television while exploring the stages of grief Wanda experiences as she copes with Vision's passing during Avengers: Infinity War (2018). This required a significantly high budget for the series, making it another expensive show. Each of the nine episodes of the show cost around USD 25 million.
4) The Pacific
Created by Bruce C. McKenna and produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, this miniseries premiered on HBO in March 2010. Starring an ensemble cast, the show is based on the memoirs of three Marines, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa and China Marine by Eugene Sledge, Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie, and Red Blood, Black Sand by Chuck Tatum.
The series focuses on the United States Marines in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The setting explored the September 1944 battle between Japan and America on the island of Peleliu in which 1,100 Americans lost their lives.
The details and historical accuracy presented in the show resulted in it becoming one of the most expensive shows ever. The 10-episode-long show had a budget of USD 200 million, with each episode costing around USD 20 million.
5) The Sandman
Developed by Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg, the show is based on Neil Gaiman's DC Comics of the same name. The Sandman premiered on Netflix in August 2022.
The series follows the journey of Dream a.k.a Morpheus, the titular Sandman who is one of the seven Endless. He was captured in an occult ritual that took place in 1916. After a century of being held captive, Dream escapes and restores order to his realm, The Dreaming.
The design, costumes, and visual effects remained faithful to the source material. This made the production of The Sandman expensive. According to Deadline, the show's overall production cost is USD 165 million, with each episode having a budget of around USD 15 million.
Don't forget to watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, as well as the prdoctions listed above.
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