There was a time when HBO was rumoured to be spending a whopping $3 million, which turned heads left and right. However, in today’s day of high-profile streaming web series, those numbers come nowhere close to matching what studios spend per episode on series of interest. Netflix routinely spends well over $10 million on its flagship series, leaving most in other studios in the dust.
Netflix still leads the industry when it comes to streaming, and this is reflected in the budgets for its flagship series which account for more than $10 million for one episode. These series are usually the ones that Netflix banks on the most, in hopes that it will bring in more subscribers to the service.
5. The Get Down – $11 Million per episode
Of all the series on the list, The Get Down was the one project that suffered the most because of its budget. While the story had an interesting premise, exploring the rise of disco in the 1970s, the show just failed to capture the attention of the audience like Netflix expected it to, putting the whopping $11 million/episode on Netflix’s not-to-do list. The show was cancelled just after one season, which premiered in 2016, with other big-name debuts of the service like The Crown and Stranger Things
Also Read: Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday is Surprisingly Not the Most Watched Show on Netflix in 2023
4. The Crown – $13 Million per episode
One of the the most beloved shows on the list, The Crown has garnered the kind of attention that most prestige shows did before the advent of streaming. The show, based on the British Royal family, has definitely captured the audience that Netflix intended to with it, giving other shows on the platform a run for their money. The focus on modern politics, much like The House of Cards, has drawn fans into the scandalous drama that is well worth its 13 million/ episode price tag.
3. The Sandman– $15 Million per episode
Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is just one of the series that the author has put into production with a streaming service, making their respective studios a buttload of money. The Sandman was praised for its production and set design, which was not only accurate to the visuals of the story but also drew in new fans to the streaming service, making it well worth its $15 million budget for each episode, which went towards beautifully rendering such locations like Hell, The Dreaming and Desire’s Castle.
2. One Piece– $18 Million per episode
One of Netflix’s biggest wins of the year, One Piece has managed to do for the industry at large that little else has managed to. It broke the curse of bad anime adaptations, bringing hope to the fans of the product that there can indeed be a good live-action adaptation of an anime. Painstakingly accurate in its depiction of the world created by Eiichiro Oda, the project cost the streaming giant a whopping 18 million for a single episode, making it the second most expensive series for Netflix so far.
1. Stranger Things -$30 Million per episode
Strange Things took the world by storm the moment it entered the mainstream. What the series managed to do was make a flagship franchise that Netflix can own 100% and bank on for the foreseeable future. No wonder that the streaming giant showers the show with so much love, because it turns out that each episode of the series has roughly a $30 million dollar investment riding on it, making it the most expensive drain on funds that Netflix has to endure. However, the quality and fanbase of the show speaks for itself, making the investment well worth it.
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
