The battle of the fantasy series begins. By some reports Amazon Prime has more than double the subscribers of all of HBO and HBO Max in just the U.S. alone, but both are pulling out the stops for their big-budget prequel series. That’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power from Amazon (previewed here), and the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon. HBO Max (sorry, HBO-only subscribers) released a compelling trailer for its series, with production values, costumes and props, rousing music (and that great CGI dragon!) that rivals Amazon’s series previews for what has been called the most expensive series yet, estimated at $1 billion for its five planned seasons.
The Game of Thrones prequel also has the benefit of Doctor Who star Matt Smith, who has had an amazing showing since his run as the Doctor from 2010 to 2014, including movies Terminator Genisys, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and most recently Last Night in Soho and Morbius. Unlike The Rings of Power, it also has several familiar genre stars, including Rhys Ifans (Spider-Man: No Way Home, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The King’s Man, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Bill Paterson (Doctor Who, Shetland, Outlander, Sea of Souls), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One, Bates Motel, The Secret of Crickley Hall). Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Creed, Outlander, Rambo, Sharpe, Lost, 24, Aquaman), Cornetto Trilogy regular Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz, The World’s End), Milly Alcock (The Gloaming), Emma D’Arcy (Truth Seekers, Wild Bill), and even young Wonder Woman and Lara Croft actress Emily Carey.
Check it out for yourself:
