Rings of Power Tops Most Expensive TV Productions

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the most expensive TV production in history, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by VPN Overview, analyzed TV shows that have aired during the last two decades, ranking them from the most to the least expensive to produce per episode.

Topping the list is the new Amazon Prime production The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), a spin-off set more than a thousand years before the events of the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson. Each episode of the series was produced with a budget of $60 million, making it the most expensive TV production ever.

In second, it’s a tie between five different Disney+ shows: Hawkeye (2021), The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (2021), WandaVision (2021), Loki (2021) and Obi Wan Kenobi (2022). Each of these shows had a budget of $25 million per episode and were all produced by Disney with either Marvel Studios or Lucasfilm for the streaming service.

House of the Dragon (2022), a prequel to Game of Thrones, comes in third, with a budget of $20 million per episode. The series from HBO is based on George R. R. Martin’s Fire & Blood and is set about 200 years before the events of the original show.

Fourth place is another tie between five more shows: Game of Thrones season eight (2019), The Book of Boba Fett (2022), The Mandalorian (2019), The Witcher (2019) and Watchmen (2019). The budget per episode has been estimated at $15 million for each of the shows.

Netflix’s The Crown is in fifth, with a budget of $13 million per episode.

“It is really interesting to see the great difference between the outstanding budget made available for the production of The Rings of Power and the others, as between first and second alone in this list there is a difference of $35 million, said a VPN Overview spokesperson.”

“This might depend on the expectations both producers and the public have for the show, as it has a legacy to uphold, since the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies are among the most loved in the world. It also shows that as the battle for subscribers continues between the major streaming platforms, Amazon is happy to spend big money to compete with its rivals.”