While The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power received generally favorable reviews from critics, audiences are more split. Many didn't like it, but others refused to watch it at all, including the actor who portrayed King Theoden in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Bernard Hill. In an interview with Metro, Hill accused the Amazon Prime series of being a cash grab:
“It’s a money-making venture and I’m not interested in watching that or being in it... Good luck to them and all that stuff but it’s not like the real thing.”
Hill was asked if The Lord of the Rings franchise should have ended after Peter Jackson's trilogy was finished, and he replied: "Completely, yes." However, he did make an exception for The Hobbit, although he says it was stretched out a little too much:
“I think they were pushing it when they made ‘The Hobbit.’ ‘The Hobbit’s’ a tiny book... They did it well – they did it really, really well. They expanded it [but] I think you can only stretch a piece of elastic so far. I think they managed it in ‘The Hobbit’ because there were some really good things in ‘The Hobbit’ without a doubt.”
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is much shorter than any of the three books in his Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it was adapted into three films by Peter Jackson. As a result, many of the scenes from The Hobbit movie trilogy weren't based on the original 1937 novel.
Not All Cast Members of the Peter Jackson Trilogy Dislike 'The Rings of Power'
Some of the cast members of the early 2000s The Lord of the Rings trilogy disagree on The Rings of Power. Andy Serkis, who portrayed Gollum in both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, had some positive things to say about the series, calling it 'loyal' to the trilogy. He's also very familiar with the source material, performing the audiobook recording of the original books.
The Rings of Power is one of the most expensive TV shows ever made, with Amazon spending nearly half a billion dollars for the first season. While it's difficult to gauge the exact earnings of a TV streaming series, Amazon has already begun production on the next season, so they're clearly confident in the success of the series.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 1, with the final episode of the season premiering on Oct. 14. Developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, it stars Morfydd Clark, Lenny Henry, Dylan Smith, Benjamin Walker, and Ismael Cruz Córdova. Though the series has been renewed for a second season, there is no confirmed release date yet.