Billionaire Elon Musk is not a fan of Amazon’s show titled, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.”
On Monday, Musk tweeted, “Tolkien is turning in his grave.”
He added, “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2022
Musk’s tweet came just days after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos celebrated a report revealing that the show drew more than 25 million viewers on its September 1 release date.
“Go Middle-earth!” Bezos tweeted.
Go Middle-earth!https://t.co/SbJrAJ05mw
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) September 3, 2022
Bloomberg noted the company invested roughly $1 billion in the show.
“It is somehow fitting that Tolkien’s stories – among the most popular of all time, and what many consider to be the true origin of the fantasy genre – have led us to this proud moment,” Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke said in a statement.
The show is a prequel series based on novels written by Tolkien.
According to The Washington Post, “‘The Rings of Power’ takes place seemingly an eternity before the theatrical Lord of the Rings movies, at the dawn of the Second Age, the time period where the forging of ‘the rings’ takes place.”
The Post interviewed executive producer Lindsey Weber about the show.
When asked whether someone who has never read the books or seen the movies can watch the series, Weber responded, “Yes, very much so. We worked really hard to make something that was accessible to people who have never read the books, who have never seen the movies. We want there to be an on-ramp for those people.”
She added, “And I think they will find there are relatable stories in our characters that hopefully give them an access point to Middle-earth.”
Additionally, the Post asked Weber how many seasons will be needed to tell the entirety of the story.
“Amazon agreed with the Tolkien estate to make 50 hours of television. That is something the showrunners, J.D. and Patrick, had in their minds from the get-go,” Weber said.
New episodes of the show will be released every Friday.