Fallout was a successful live-action adaptation of a popular video game with the combined efforts of Bethesda Game Studios and Amazon Prime Video. It shattered records and even made short work of popular series like The Boys and Invincible but couldn’t top The Lord of the Rings.
The show was able to pull an impressive 65 million viewers in the first 16 days since the day Prime Video released all of the episodes. Compared to an equally well-budgeted show based on the popular work of author J.R.R Tolkien, it was considerably better and more well-received.
The Fallout Series Is Way Better Than the Lord of the Rings Spinoff
Despite having a strong start, the video game adaptation was the second most-watched title on the platform and fell behind The Rings of Power. It is an impressive feat to achieve such a high viewer count when most video game adaptations are cursed or plagued with bad luck. Fortunately, the studio has assembled a stellar creative team of passionate fans with director Jonah Nolan at the helm.
Fallout pulls in 65 million viewers in its first 16 days since the premiere, making it the second most watched title on Amazon Prime
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Perhaps The Rings of Power may have the advantage of being affiliated with a successful film franchise and a rich history of an epic fantasy novel years prior, but comparing that to a project that used a video game as a source material that nearly took first place is quite uncanny. Nolan also had the advantage of receiving full support from the developers and the original game director even encouraged the live-action series team to create something new.
The recent surge of back-to-back successful video game adaptations has raised the stakes for Nolan but the director stayed true and used the success of previous adaptations as motivation. The showrunners were also humble and accepted that this project could never be seen in the same light or match the quality of the video games, which worked well in the team’s favor.
The Lord of the Rings Spinoff Didn’t Live up to the Hype Like Fallout
The expectations were relatively low for video game adaptations but the teaser and early previews have shown that Prime Video has perfectly captured the tone, feel, and atmosphere from the source material and features a powerful cast. The studio was confident enough to deviate from the traditional weekly episode releases like The Rings of Power and other big shows.
Amazon Prime Video places a strong emphasis on producing high-quality content to attract and retain viewers. However, despite these efforts, fans of The Rings of Power have voiced their dissatisfaction with the show, leading to a backlash and widespread disappointment among the loyal fanbase.
Fans of the video game series can rest easy and given the positive feedback, the studio has officially greenlit the series for a second season. The Fallout series is the perfect example of how to adapt or translate a certain franchise in this format of storytelling and how the popularity of the franchise can boost the viewer count and ratings.
Do you think Fallout is a better show than The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power? Let us know in the comments section below!
