‘Wheel of Time’ vs. ‘Rings of Power’: Which Fantasy Series Conjures the Most Revenue for Amazon? | Charts
Since premiering, two flagship fantasy series on Amazon Prime Video have had a similar impact in terms of the amount of subscriber revenue they have brought in for the streaming platform. As of the end of 2024, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” has generated $367M in subscriber revenue for Prime Video according to Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics model. This number comes in slightly ahead of another fantasy book adaptation, “The Wheel of Time,” which has brought in $360M by our calculation. With Season 3, which is now rolling out on Prime Video, “The Wheel of Time” may again take the lead in the amount of revenue brought in for Amazon.
“The Rings of Power” only slightly beats out “The Wheel of Time” in total streaming revenue brought in for Amazon Prime Video to date, but when we account for the fact that “The Wheel of Time” premiered nearly a year ahead of “The Rings of Power”, it is clear that “Rings of Power” has consistently outpaced “The Wheel of Time” in terms of the amount of subscriber revenue generated on a per quarter basis.
The offset season release schedule of these two shows means that they have not been competing for attention (as we saw with the “Rings of Power” vs. “House of the Dragon” face off in 2021) and instead provide a consistent pipeline of fresh fantasy content for an audience that is likely interested in both series.
If we consider the reported costs of these two series, “The Wheel of Time” looks like it might have a higher return on investment. Season 1 was reportedly made for $80 million. This isn’t cheap, but it is still dwarfed by the budget of “The Rings of Power” (the rights alone cost a quarter million dollars). In fairness, Amazon has committed to five seasons of “The Rings of Power,” so it is clearly playing the long game and we will have to see how things net out in the future.
While Prime Video is clearly invested in developing its fantasy offerings with these two series, Netflix is the leader in terms of the share of catalog dedicated to fantasy series. 7.2% of shows on Netflix are in the fantasy genre. However, Prime Video does get more value out of its slightly smaller fantasy catalog. The 7% of shows on Prime Video in the fantasy genre deliver 10.2% of the revenue brought in by shows on the platform, while Netflix’s 7.2% share delivers 9.2%.
Max is the standout platform where fantasy series most overperform. This type of content accounts for a smaller share of catalog on Max than other platforms globally (2.8%) so it is likely not the platform of choice for fantasy fans looking for the biggest selection of content or the broadest variety of options. However, the genre is responsible for an outsized share of the streamer’s subscriber revenue (10.5%) thanks to several broadly popular fantasy series. The “Game of Thrones” franchise is clearly a big factor behind fantasy content’s success on Max, but other shows like “True Blood” and “His Dark Materials” also drive the fantasy genre’s success here. With the upcoming “Harry Potter” series set to stream on Max, expect the genre to continue to outperform on the platform.
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