Middle-earth may be going from film to television with Amazon’s new series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” but it turns out that that doesn’t mean the franchise is done with the big screen. The show will screen its first two episodes at fan events across the world on Aug. 31, two days before it makes its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video.
Cinemark created a page for the one-night-only event, with a note that tickets will become available on Monday at 9 am PT. The reservation also comes with a $10 snack voucher. The event is only available to Cinemark Movie Rewards members — the theater chain’s two-tiered loyalty program, which includes a free subscription option.
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Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Amazon will also screen the series in locations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Argentina, Colombia, Australia and New Zealand. Reports indicate that the fan event will unfold across roughly 200 locations globally.
The decision to bring “The Rings of Power” to theaters, even if only for one night, represents a largely unprecedented push by Amazon for an upcoming program. The “Lord of the Rings” property comes with a very engaged fanbase — of both J.R.R. Tolkien’s original novels and director Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy of films — that the streamer is hoping will spark enthusiasm among a larger viewership.
Amazon hopes to make a big splash with “Rings of Power,” which reportedly carries a production budget of more than $400 million and was described by Stuart Nash, New Zealand’s minister for economic development and tourism, as “the largest television series ever made.”
Amazon Prime Video will debut both of the first two “The Rings of Power” episodes on Sept. 2. Following the premiere, the series will switch to a one-episode-per-week release format, debuting its remaining six episodes on each subsequent Friday.
