Holy Force! It has been revealed that Disney’s Star Wars show “Andor” cost the company $698.3 million for two seasons on Disney+!
That is an insane number! And it will likely climb higher soon, as the $700 million total was only through late 2024 and doesn’t yet account for the post-production amounts in 2025. Those figures won’t be released until 2026!
UK Tax Credits Lower the Amount
Thankfully, Disney got 25.5% of the money spent in the UK back in tax credits, netting them $142.3 million. Bringing the total down to about $553.4 million, which is still a ridiculous amount of money.
Yes, each season had a lot of episodes, but was it really worth the cost?
While the series was critically acclaimed, the viewership was better than some shows, but not nearly the numbers of “The Mandalorian” or “Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
This chart from Netflix and Chiffres shows the numbers for each Marvel and Star Wars show on Disney+. If this is accurate, it means that the Acolyte did will when you combine each season’s totals, but still not as well as other shows.
“Andor” had two seasons with a total of 24 episodes. This is the same number of episodes “The Mandalorian” had over three seasons. However, “The Mandalorian” cost about $360 million for all three seasons, which could end up being about half as much as “Andor”.
Yet “The Mandalorian” watchtime was many times more than that of “Andor.”
“The Acolyte” also overspent with a budget of $230 million or more for only eight episodes. That show performed better than season 2 of “Andor” and still got cancelled due to low viewership.
Disney is spending too much on “Star Wars” Content.
By all indications, Disney is spending far too much on “Star Wars” content relative to the return in viewership. Audiences are not tuning in like they used to for Marvel or Star Wars.
That being said, over $700 million is a substantial amount to spend on a show that didn’t perform all that well. Many said it was an amazing show, but the audience was small.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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