The Lord of the Rings series is set to cost Amazon $465M for just ONE season

The upcoming Lord of the Rings TV series is set to be the largest television series ever made.

It was reported on Friday that Amazon Studios is spending around NZ$650 million – $465 million in U.S. dollars, on just one season of the fantasy series – far more than previous record-breaking estimates. 

Previous estimates had the drama – which began production last year – costing $500 million for multiple seasons to stream on Amazon Prime. 

Epic: It was reported on Friday that Amazon Studios is spending around NZ$650 million – $465 million in U.S. dollars, on just one season of The Lord Of The Rings

‘What I can tell you is Amazon is going to spend about $650 million in season one alone,’ Stuart Nash, New Zealand Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, told Morning Report

‘This is fantastic, it really is… this will be the largest television series ever made.’  

New Zealand said on Friday it has agreed to give Amazon extra rebates on its expenses for the filming of the TV series in the country, hoping to reap multi-year economic and tourism benefits.

It should be noted that subsequent seasons of LOTR will likely cost far less when start-up costs don’t need to be factored in.

Amazon will get an extra 5% from New Zealand’s Screen Production Grant in addition to the 20% grant the production already qualifies for, the government said in a statement.

Smashing records: Previous estimates had the drama - which began production last year - costing $500 million for multiple seasons to stream on Amazon Prime

Smashing records: Previous estimates had the drama – which began production last year – costing $500 million for multiple seasons to stream on Amazon Prime

'This is fantastic, it really is... this will be the largest television series ever made.' Stuart Nash, New Zealand Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, told Morning Report

‘This is fantastic, it really is… this will be the largest television series ever made.’ Stuart Nash, New Zealand Minister for Economic Development and Tourism, told Morning Report 

It would be eligible for a rebate of about NZ$162 million ($116 million), the government said.

The figures were released as part of the New Zealand government’s Official Information Act and initially reported by the New Zealand outlet Stuff.

It’s also revealed that there will be potentially five seasons in the series and a yet to be announced spinoff in the works. 

‘The agreement with Amazon… generates local jobs and creates work for local businesses,’ Nash said. ‘It will enable a new wave of international tourism branding and promotion for this country.’

The first season entered production in Auckland last year with more than 1,200 people employed. Approximately 700 workers are indirectly employed by providing services to the production, the government said.

The TV series will be in the same fictional universe created by legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien, who published the series at intervals between 1954 and 1955

The TV series will be in the same fictional universe created by legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien, who published the series at intervals between 1954 and 1955

Magic: Amazon dropped $260 million in 2017 just on the rights for the upcoming series, and the details, including plot have not yet been revealed

Magic: Amazon dropped $260 million in 2017 just on the rights for the upcoming series, and the details, including plot have not yet been revealed

The TV series will be in the same fictional universe created by legendary author J.R.R. Tolkien, who published the series at intervals between 1954 and 1955.

Similarly to the books, and the Peter Jackson adaptations in the early 2000s, the landscapes will be populated with horrific humanoid monsters, dwarfish citizens of mythical villages, and slender celestial elves.

Amazon dropped $260 million in 2017 just on the rights for the upcoming series, and the details, including plot have not yet been revealed.

The official description reads: The Lord of the Rings ‘brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. 

Similarly to the books, and the Peter Jackson adaptations in the early 2000s, the landscapes will be populated with horrific humanoid monsters, dwarfish citizens of mythical villages, and slender celestial elves

Similarly to the books, and the Peter Jackson adaptations in the early 2000s, the landscapes will be populated with horrific humanoid monsters, dwarfish citizens of mythical villages, and slender celestial elves

The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, produced between 2001 and 2003, cost over $310 million and required more than 20,000 extras to populate the epic scenes

‘Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.’

The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, produced between 2001 and 2003, cost over $310 million and required more than 20,000 extras to populate the epic scenes.