Amazon Prime Video has confirmed that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power , available for just over a day, broke all previous viewing records on the streaming platform. According to the company, the series was watched by more than 25 million viewers around the world on its first day, making it the largest premiere in history.
Somehow it makes sense that the stories of Tolkien – some of the most popular stories of all time that many consider to be the true beginning of the fantasy genre – brought us to this proud moment. I am very grateful to the Tolkien Estate and our executive producers, JD Payne and Patrick McKay, also Lindsey Weber, the cast and the crew – for their collaborative efforts and unlimited creative energy. And of course, tens of millions of fans – clearly as passionate about Middle-earth as we are – are our greatest success.
– said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios .
Promo material for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power from Empire Magazine
Amazon ‘s investment in The Lord of the Rings is reportedly in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The website even turned off user reviews for the first 72 hours after the premiere of the series in Prime Video . When news of the blockade went around, the company confirmed that it was a practice that was implemented this summer to combat the “review bombardment” of internet trolls who have not actually even watched the production and leave unfounded negative feedback.
In any case, even with no user reviews available, people still took enough interest in the Rings of Power that they made it Prime Video ‘s biggest hit .