Amazon says its expensive Lord of the Rings prequel series was seen by over 25 million viewers worldwide on its first day, a record for a Prime Video series.
The company aired the first two episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which was filmed in New Zealand, on its streaming service in more than 240 countries and territories on Friday.
Amazon did not specify whether the viewers listed had seen all or part of the first and second episodes.
Future episodes of Rings of Power will launch weekly until the season finale on October 14th.
The series is set in JRR Tolkien’s fictional Middle-earth in an era known as the Second Age, a period of 4,000 years before the events of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit novels and films.
Amazon plans to let the whole story unfold in 50 hours over five seasons.
The online retailer spent more than $ 465 million (A $ 683 million) to produce the show’s first season, making it one of the most expensive TV series ever produced and the most ambitious since its launch. “Amazon entered original programming in 2013.
The company has garnered acclaim for shows like Transparent and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, but audiences for those series have not been revealed.