--- title: "Amazon Bungles Release of Most Expensive TV Show in History" description: "Return of the King The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Amazon’s big budget, highly anticipated reboot of a beloved IP, is finally here — and it has a lot riding on its success. Amazon’s intended plan was to premier the first two episodes in a simultaneous release on its Prime Video streaming […]" date: "2022-09-02" modified: "2022-09-02" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-bungles-release-of-most-expensive-tv-show-in-history" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "Amazon" - "amazon prime" - "lord of the rings" - "the digest" --- # Amazon Bungles Release of Most Expensive TV Show in History ![Amazon has shelled out over $700 million for its Lord of the Rings reboot, but for a moment it couldn't even get the first episode online.]() *\Image: Amazon Studios/Futurism\* ## Wizard Beats Amazon’s big budget, highly anticipated prequel "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is finally here — and as the [most expensive TV show]() ever made, the company has [a lot]() riding on its success. The plan was to premier the first two episodes in a simultaneous release on its Prime Video streaming platform, a fairly common practice. But the streamer’s execution was a little unorthodox, to say the least. At the start of the double release, episode one was — [for some users]() — quite literally unwatchable. That’s no exaggeration, as it completely lacked a play button, and instead users were given a message that said the "video is currently unavailable." Meanwhile, episode two was widely available without any hiccups. Fortunately, it looks like this glitch didn't affect *everyone*, and was fixed within a few minutes. Whether this can be blamed on a server overload from the millions tuning in to watch the premier at the same time or some intern forgetting to hit a button, we’re not sure. But from one of the world's most prominent tech companies, and at a pivotal moment in its ongoing venture in streaming entertainment, it’s an embarrassing little slip-up either way. ## Return of the King With Amazon shelling out $465 million for the first season of "Rings," it’s reportedly the [priciest show]() ever made — per episode, overall, whichever way you look at it. And that bogglingly huge budget doesn’t even include the $250 million Amazon had to pay for the rights to the Tolkien property back in 2017. But apparently not even its Smaug-sized budget could save the show from Amazon’s mildly botched release of the season premier. And it probably can’t save the show from high expectations, either. It’s an impossibly tall order to top Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, which collectively was one of the most critically, commercially, and culturally successful entertainment endeavors of all time. Good luck trying to please the pedantic purists of Tolkien’s written work, too. With [scores of memes]() circulating that poke fun at the show’s chintzy looking promotional material, it’s probably not the prestige reception Amazon wanted. But if the show is worth its salt, it’ll overcome these minor slights. **More on Amazon:** [*Amazon Makes Its Employees Use a Bunch of Stupid Made-Up Words*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()