E-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) recently released “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” — a prequel show inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkien book series.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recently celebrated the series, even making a surprise appearance at the global premiere. However, his fellow billionaire and space exploration rival, Elon Musk, isn't a fan.
What Happened: The first two "Rings of Power" episodes were released on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 1. The shows were watched by 25 million people around the world in their first day of availability, setting an Amazon Prime Video record.
Musk was one of those viewers, and wasted no time throwing shade at the production.
“Tolkien is turning in his grave,” the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO tweeted. “Almost every male character so far is a coward, a jerk or both. Only Galadriel is brave, smart and nice.”
In the past, Musk has tweeted "Lord of the Rings" references from “The Two Towers." And Musk’s ex-partner, Grimes, revealed that their daughter — Exa Dark Sierael — has a name that honors the Tolkien character Galadriel, Grimes’ favorite character from the books.
Musk isn't the only famous name taking issue with the new show. A former "Lord of the Rings" star had similar comments about the series.
John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli, said Tolkien would be “spinning in his grave.”
“Why we quite need Lord of the Rings as a TV series baffles me slightly,” Rhys-Davies said.
Musk's review could also be seen as sour grapes considering his rivalry with Bezos. Not only are they the two richest people in the world, but their companies — Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Blue Origin — also compete in the space exploration sector. The two have also made comments about several other aspects of each other's lives.
See Also: Bezos Vs. Musk - The Space Race
Why It's Important: The stakes are high for Amazon. The highly anticipated prequel series is one of the most important, and expensive, series in Amazon video history.
Its marketing campaign also coincides with another streaming platform's new prequel show — Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) HBO Max and its “Game of Thrones” prequel.
So far, "Rings of Power" has a 6.8 rating on IMDb, a movie database platform owned by Amazon. Reports have popped up on Reddit that negative reviews on IMDb were deleted. The series has an 84% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 39% audience score.
It has also been rumored to be targeted by review bombers, which occurs when a bunch of negative reviews are left at once on projects. Amazon is banning reviews of the new show on its own platform for several days as a result.
Bezos appeared at the premiere at Leicester Square in London, praising the show and crediting his introduction and love of the “Lord of the Rings” book series to his grandfather. Bezos also expressed gratitude to the showrunners who ignored his requests on the serie's scripts.
“Every showrunners’ dream is to get notes on early scripts and cuts from the executive chairman, they just love that,” Bezos said. “I want to thank you both for listening whenever it helped but mostly I need to thank you for ignoring me at exactly the right times.”
The Amazon founder also said he got some advice from his son on Amazon’s role in making a series of beloved literary work.
“My kid is a huge Tolkien fan and after Amazon got involved he came up to me, looked me in the eye and said ‘Dad, please don’t f*** this up’.”
Photo: Courtesy of National Museum of Americ on flickr
