Amazon Will Spend $465 Million on Season 1 of ‘Lord of the Rings’

The first season of “Lord of the Rings” will cost Amazon a lot of castar. The retail giant will spend around $465 million to film the first season of its upcoming fantasy drama based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.That figure comes courtesy of New Zealand’s Minister for Economic Development and Tourism Stuart Nash. Amazon is filming the series in the Kiwi country, using the same location as Peter Jackson’s popular film trilogy.“Amazon is going to spend about (Nz)$650 million in season one alone,” Nash told New Zealand’s “Morning Report,” which translates to roughly $465 million U.S. dollars. That spending amount will trigger a tax rebate of Nz$160 million ($114 million U.S.).“This is fantastic, it really is,” Nash continued. “This will be the largest television series ever made.”Amazon declined to comment. An individual with knowledge of the production confirmed that figure is correct.For comparison’s sake, ...