Amazon's 'Rings of Power' struggles to surpass HBO's 'House of Dragon': Report

Amazon's billion-dollar project LOTR Rings of Power is losing the battle of viewership against HBO's House of Dragon.

According to Insider, the Game of Thrones prequel garnered 51% more viewership than the Lord of the Rings prequel, citing the data from Whip Media.

However, an Amazon spokesperson contested the view that Rings was underperforming HBO's mega-budget series, adding, "audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes had been unfairly lowered by a review bombing campaign orchestrated by malicious online actors."

On the contrary, analysts pointed out Tolkein's rabid fan base for casting asperation on the billion-dollar series.

"It will be impossible for Amazon to please the millions of Tolkien fans, despite the enormous budget for the series," Tom Forte, an analyst for investment firm D.A. Davidson highlighted.

"There is bound to be a character, plot, subplot, line, etc. in the series that will upset/disappoint many passionate fans, the analyst continues, and there is, even, a risk that the series itself will prove disappointing."

Meanwhile, Amazon is banking on the success of Rings of Power as one former senior Amazon Studios exec confided to Insider, "If it doesn't succeed, there's going to be a big question from Andy Jassy and the board," adding, "If we can't take this piece of IP and make it successful, why is Amazon Studios even here?"

"It has to succeed," it added. "There's no option."