LOS ANGELES, United States — As “
House of the Dragon” debuted to nearly 10
million US viewers this weekend, HBO appears to have claimed first blood in its
much-hyped TV fantasy epic showdown with Amazon’s upcoming “Lord of the Rings”
prequel.
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Set in the same
Medieval-inspired Westeros world as smash hit “Game of Thrones,” “House of the
Dragon,” which launched Sunday, is a crucially important series for the premium
cable network and its streaming platform HBO Max.
HBO is banking on
its prequel matching the wild popularity of the original “Thrones,” which over
eight seasons became appointment viewing, spawned countless imitations, and
delivered 59 Emmys — a record for a drama at television’s equivalent of the
Oscars.
A press release
on Monday hailed 9.986 million viewers as “the largest audience for any new
original series in the history of HBO” — although some analysts noted that “new
original” might be pushing a definition for a spin-off, and that its parent
title drew a whopping 17.4 million to the debut of its final season.
Still, the figure
represents a success for newly merged
Warner Bros Discovery, which is under
intense scrutiny as it tries to navigate its place in a rapidly changing
entertainment landscape dominated by the so-called “streaming wars.”
On September 2,
fierce competition will arrive in the form of “The Rings of Power,” another
swords-and-dragons-themed epic of the small screen, this time taking place in
J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and created by retail giant Amazon’s own
streaming platform Prime Video.
Said to be a
passion project for Amazon’s uber-wealthy founder Jeff Bezos, “
The Rings of Power” has been commissioned for five seasons, and has been dubbed the most
expensive show ever made.
Its overall
budget of around $1 billion dwarfs the $150 million spent so far on “House of
the Dragon,” though HBO has several other glossy Westeros-set prequels, sequels
and spin-offs in the works.
‘Great fantasy’
Creatives and executives on each side have been careful to play down
talk of a rivalry.
And in reality,
comparisons between the shows may be harder to draw than in TV ratings battles
of the past.
HBO’s return to
Westeros, and its predecessor show’s addictive blend of scheming dynasties,
gory violence, and arguably gratuitous intimacy, has drawn generally warm
praise from critics, though reviews for Amazon’s show remain under strict
embargo.
While HBO has
been happy to celebrate its strong early ratings figures, Amazon is under no
obligation to publish viewing statistics.
Indeed, many in
the more “traditional” side of Hollywood have noted that Prime Video — which
produces both television and film — may not be especially interested in the
same metrics as its apparent rivals.
Earlier this year,
the head of the movie theater industry’s trade body told AFP his group was
“very concerned” about
Amazon Prime, noting that the subscription service’s
business model was not “trying to make money” off its movies and shows, but
instead getting consumers to “buy their groceries and use their shipping
services.”
Still, fantasy
fans including George R.R. Martin — author of the books on which both “Game of
Thrones” and “House of the Dragon” are based on — have expressed hope that both
can be a success.
“I want both
shows to find an appreciative audience, and give them great television. Great
fantasy,” Martin wrote in a recent blog post.
“The more fantasy hits we
have, the more great fantasy we are likely to get.”
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