More than 25 million people watched the first day’s premiere episodes of LOTR: The Rings of Power worldwide, according to a statement released by Amazon on Saturday. Even though the streamer refrained from specifying how much of an episode a subscription needed to view in order to be included in their tally, that number is the largest debut in Prime Video history.
GOT prequel House of the Dragon, which set a premiere record for the streamer, followed HBO’s own major fantasy swing, The Rings of Power, with a good opening. After one week of availability, the series premiere of House of the Dragon was closing in on 25 million viewers in the United States.
The head of Amazon Studios, Jennifer Salke, said in a statement: “It seems somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories, among the most well-known of all time, and what many regard to be the genuine foundation of the fantasy genre, have led us to this proud moment.” I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Tolkien Estate, as well as to the cast, crew, executive producer Lindsey Weber, and the showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay for their unceasing cooperation and limitless creative energy. And our ultimate test of success lies in the tens of millions of viewers who are evidently just as devoted to Middle-Earth as we are.
The first two episodes of the series, debuted on September 1 at 9:00 PM ET. The following episodes will air each week on Fridays at 3 a.m. ET, with the season finale airing on October 14.
