ONE SHOW TO RULE THEM ALL

Amazón's Lord of the Rings prequel could usher in a new blockbuster era of streaming or mark the summit of peak TV.

- Felix Gillette

The pitch goes like this: A powerful being has built a war chest of unlimited resources by peering with its all-seeing eye into the lives of everyone on Earth. Now, it’s making a final push to vanquish its rivals once and for all.

No, not Sauron.

Amazon.

On Sept. 2, Amazon Prime Video will premiere The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in more than 240 countries and territories around the world.

The series is based in part on the appendices, a collection of histories sketching out an elaborate backstory for Middle-earth, at the end of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King. Set a few thousand years before the events of The Hobbit, The Rings of Power will feature a sprawling ensemble cast of new and classic characters, opulent special effects—and a massive marketing campaign.

To stoke interest, Amazon.com Inc. is mobilizing its unique armada of media and hardware assets. Already, Amazon Books, Amazon Music, Amazon’s live-streaming site Twitch, Amazon’s entertainment site IMDB.com, and Amazon’s Fire TV have contributed to the effort by pushing synergistic Tolkienrelated promotions, including deals on the original books and images from the show plastered on grocery bags. “You’re going to be bombarded with advertising for it,” says Andrew Rosen, founder of Parqor, a streaming analysis service.

The last time most viewers checked in with Tolkien’s fantasy universe, its heroes were doing battle in Peter Jackson’s big-screen adaptations of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, where they were valiantly struggling against orcs, cave-trolls, balrogs, Ringwraiths, and hell-hawks.