The Wheel Of Time Has Bumped Hunters As Amazon Prime's Most-Watched Original Series To Date
Amazon Prime Video has a new Queen and it's Rosamund Pike! "The Wheel of Time" has just ousted "Hunters" as the most-watched original series on the streamer, according to Variety. Joining Pike (who plays Moiraine Damodred) on the throne are cast members Madeleine Madden as Egwene Al'Vere, Marcus Rutherford as Perrin Aybara, Barney Harris as Mat Cauthon (Dónal Finn will play him in Season 2), Zoë Robins as Nynaeve, and Josha Stradowski as Rand Al'Thor.
It's looking like the show that has been touted as the next "Game of Thrones" is off to a great start. The series reportedly had 1.16 billion viewing minutes in the first week of release, which knocked "Hunters" down. Interestingly enough, the site reports that there is an older audience profile. 65% of viewers are in the 35-64 age range. As someone who read the books when they came out back in the 1990s, that makes total sense. (Fun fact: I met author Robert Jordan before he passed at a book signing, and he was wearing the craziest cowboy hat I've ever seen with some sort of what appeared to be snakeskin on it.)
The Wheel of Time Turns and Ages Come and Pass
Nielsen's Top 10 SVOD Lists said this series premiered in the number one original spot, and Prime Video reported that from the week of November 15 to 21, 2021, it was one of the top five launches of all time for the service. In a statement, Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios said:
"We are elated by the strong debut of 'The Wheel of Time,' one of our most-watched series premieres of all time ... It's a testament to everyone involved in the series — the incredible cast, led by Rosamund Pike, and our showrunner Rafe Judkins, and the entire team, who took viewers on a journey into a visually stunning world populated with diverse characters and cultures. It's unlike any other fantasy series, and our customers all over the world are responding."
Even cooler? The site reports that the first novel in the "Wheel of Time" series called "The Eye of the World" made the Top 20 of Amazon's Most Read Fiction chart in the week the series premiered.
The Wheel Turns as the Wheel Wills
The series has been renewed for season 2 and production began this summer in Prague. "Wheel of Time" is based on the book series by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson from Jordan's notes. Here is the synopsis for the series:
"The Wheel of Time" is one of the most popular and enduring fantasy series of all time, with more than 90 million books sold. Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine (Rosamund Pike), a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organization called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.
The series is on Nielsen's Top 10 SVOD Original Programming. Also on the list are "The Great British Baking Show" ("The Great British Bake Off" for you purists), "Tiger King," "You," "Locke & Key," "Narcos: Mexico," the recently canceled "Cowboy Bebop," "Maid," and "Hellbound."