A former executive on Amazon Studio seems to have debunked the reports that the first season of the Lord of the Rings television series will cost around half a billion dollars to produce.
When the news about the reported huge budget was being circulated online, Sharon Tal Yguado, the former Amazon Studios Head of Scripted Programming, mocked the reports. In his tweet, he said, "LOL. Imagine if you actually had the correct numbers and didn't report fake news."
In 2018, it was reported that Amazon Prime Video's Lord of the Rings series will cost $500 million for two seasons. The latest projection claims that the budget for just one season is $465 million. Based on Yguado's tweet, it is seemingly unclear on the exact budget for the show.
Yguado was part of the Lord of the Rings series when the company first made a commitment to adapt it to multiple television seasons back in 2017. Back then, she said that that the Lord of the Rings is a phenomenon that was able to capture the imagination of multiple fans through the lore and literature of the series.
In her previous statement, she also stated that they are honored to work with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, New Line, and Harper Collins. She said,
"The Lord of the Rings is a cultural phenomenon that has captured the imagination of generations of fans through literature and the big screen. We are honored to be working with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins and New Line on this exciting collaboration for television and are thrilled to be taking The Lord of the Rings fans on a new epic journey in Middle Earth."
The series is believed to be set in the Second Age, at the time when Sauron rose to power and created the all-powerful ring, which served as the driving force on J.R.R. Tolkien novels and the film trilogy in the early 2000s.
If you are looking for where to watch The Lord of the Rings, it is currently streaming on HBO Max and Hulu.
Related: Amazon's Lord of the Rings Series Costs Almost Five Times More Than That of Game of Thrones