The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has broken records and become Amazon's biggest-ever debut series.
In figures released by Amazon, the Prime Video series was watched by 25 million people worldwide on the day of its release (via The Hollywood Reporter).
The streaming service says this makes it its top premiere of all time, though it has not released data to back this up – or any details about what series previously held the top spot.
Related: Nazanin Boniadi on groundbreaking LOTR TV role
According to the publication, Amazon has made it unclear whether those figures constitute an average viewership worldwide, the number of people who watched only a few minutes of the show, or something else entirely.
With about 200 million subscribers to Prime Video globally, this means around one in eight Prime members tuned in to watch the fantasy epic on its first day.
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Rings of Power, the eagerly-awaited fantasy epic, is set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, a relative time of peace for the various tribes.
Related: Rings of Power episode 2 cliffhanger explained
The Prime Video series tells the story of how this peace was eventually broken with violence and bloodshed by those who covet the Rings of Power and control over Middle-earth.
The overwhelmingly positive response from reviewers who had seen the first two episodes ahead of its release may have had something to do with such high ratings.
Reviewers praised the fantasy epic, particularly commenting on the scale of the project and its visuals.
"Rings of Power is a cinematic experience," tweeted critic Rodrigo Salem. "In a perfect world, we would watch it on a big screen. It's pure Tolkien and yet feels very connected to Peter Jackson's movies. The FX are brilliant, the acting is superb and the prologue itself will destroy any awful feeling you had."
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is on Amazon Prime Video now.
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Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
