Between purchasing the rights from the Tolkien estate and production and marketing costs, Amazon is likely to spend upwards of $1 billion on just the eight-episode first season of “The Rings of Power.” HBO, Netflix and AMC are also shelling out small fortunes to compete in a landscape in which cinematic production value and spectacle are seen as preconditions for top-tier success.
TV has always been a business of managing failure, however, and the chance for that here is just as great - but would come at a greater expense than your typical primetime cancellation.
Tapping into those fan bases once again could reap similar bounties. The opportunity for success seems obvious: The 18 Anne Rice novels to which AMC secured the rights have sold more than 150 million copies globally Peter Jackson’s trilogies of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” have grossed better than $5.8 billion worldwide and “Game of Thrones” was one of the biggest TV shows of the past decade, averaging 44 million viewers per episode across all platforms in its final season. Until now, just about every genre sensation in the streaming age that isn’t produced by Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm - “Stranger Things,” “Black Mirror,” “The Boys,” “Squid Game,” even “Game of Thrones” - has earned its success organically through old-fashioned word-of-mouth.īut with competition for subscribers growing fiercer as quarterly reports obliterate the streaming bubble, media companies have increasingly turned to well-known and beloved genre franchises, including Netflix’s “The Witcher” and Prime Video’s “The Legend of Vox Machina,” in a hungry grab for IP that they hope comes with a preexisting awareness and a built-in fan base - and thus, presumably, less risk. But there’s something different about this new crop of premieres.
Over the 2010s, fantasy series transformed from niche TV to a major cultural force, driving viewership and winning awards. 2 and AMC unveils its reimagining of Anne Rice’s seminal Gothic horror novel “ Interview With the Vampire” on Oct.
And they’re not alone: The sudden flood of event series based on massively popular fantasy properties starts with Netflix’s “ The Sandman,” adapted from Neil Gaiman’s widely acclaimed graphic novel series, which launches Aug. Show your allegiance to The Dragon Clan with the Dragon's Dice.Įxplore a deep variety of strategy with six new Rings specific to Heroes of The Dragon Clan.Īdd the Ruin Amulet to your collection, allowing any hero to embrace their dark side and become Armello's next villain.All of this work - and money and time - comes at a critical moment for both shows, which debut just weeks apart. Likely the oldest creature in Armello, this ancient warrior still holds her oath to the Worm.Īn illusionist devoted to The Worm who is as crafty as he is paranoid.Ĭontinue The Dragons' pilgrimage back to Armello and carve new tales into stone. The Dragon Clan, Armello's second Clan DLC features four new playable Heroes, a brand new Dragon-exclusive Quest system, Dragon Dice, six new Signets, and a new Amulet!Ī self proclaimed prophet able to influence sophisticated and beastly minds alike.Ī member of the elite group of Sentinels, she is the perfect weapon against the Wyld. Join the insidious band of scaled heroes in their journey to reclaim their birthright, Armello's throne.