What house of the dragon debuted to nearly 10 million American viewers this weekend, HBO appears to have claimed first blood in its much-hyped epic TV fantasy showdown with Amazon’s upcoming release. Lord of the Rings prequel
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Set in the same Middle Ages-inspired world of Westeros as the smash hit game of Thrones, house of the dragonwhich launched on Sunday, is a vitally important series for the premium cable network and its streaming platform HBO Max.
HBO is confident its prequel will match the wild popularity of the original throneswhich for eight seasons became a date to watch, spawned countless imitations and handed out 59 Emmy Awards, a record for a drama at the television equivalent of the Oscars.
A Monday press release hailed 9.986 million viewers as “the largest audience for any new original series in HBO history,” though some analysts noted that “new original” could be driving a definition for a spinoff, and that its parent The title drew a whopping 17.4 million to debut its final season.
Still, the figure represents a success for the newly merged Warner Bros Discovery, which is under intense scrutiny as it tries to take its place in a rapidly changing entertainment landscape dominated by so-called “broadcast wars.”
Fierce competition will arrive on September 2 in the form of the rings of poweranother small screen swords and dragons epic, this time taking place in JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and created by retail giant Amazon’s own streaming platform Prime Video.
Said to be a passion project for super-rich Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the rings of power it has been commissioned for five seasons and has been called the most expensive show ever made.
Its overall budget of around $1 billion dwarfs the $150 million spent so far on house of the dragonthough HBO has several other brilliant Westeros-set prequels, sequels, and spin-offs in the works.
‘big fantasy’
Creatives and executives on each side have been careful to downplay talk of a rivalry.
And in reality, comparisons between shows can be harder to draw than in television ratings battles of the past.
HBO’s return to Westeros, and its predecessor show’s addictive blend of scheming dynasties and bloody violence, has received generally warm praise from critics, though Amazon’s reviews of the show remain under a strict embargo.
While HBO has been happy to celebrate its strong early viewing numbers, Amazon is under no obligation to release viewing statistics.
In fact, many on the more “traditional” side of Hollywood have noted that Prime Video, which produces TV and movies, may not be particularly interested in the same metrics as its apparent rivals.
Earlier this year, the head of the film industry’s trade body told AFP that his group was “very concerned” about Amazon Prime, noting that the subscription service’s business model was not “trying to make money” from it. their movies and shows, but by getting consumers to “buy their groceries and use their delivery services.”
Still, fantasy fans, including George RR Martin, author of the books in which both game of Thrones Y house of the dragon are based on — have expressed the hope that both can be successful.
“I want both shows to find a grateful audience and give them great television. Big fantasy,” Martin wrote in a recent blog post. “The more fantasy hits we get, the more fantastic fantasy we’re likely to get.”
