Well now, I can tell you what
I believe, which ofc isn't necessarily the actual truth.. first, it's about rising cred, as said above.. then it's about showing muscles, because not giving a
about wasting hundreds of millions or even billions on a mediocre product, it's a sign of extreme wealth (as stupid as this sounds.. billionaires have a different mind that us normal fellas) and finally, it's about being arrogant beyond logic, that makes you believe that you can get everything right, no matter what.
Anyways, in the end I don't think the economic loss will be that serious, probably they are not really even losing money out of this, because (and I have witnessed that myself) most of people know nothing about the Silmarillion and don't give a
and has watched the show in any case.. quite sure some have bought the Prime account just to watch it. Sure the constant stream of negative reviews from LotR fans has hindered the success of the first season, but if they insist long enough, eventually we nerds will give up and it will become just another mediocre show whit a large mediocre audience.
What is really sad here is the wasted opportunity, and that's what really drives us LotR fan crazy, IMO.