Since the age of prestige TV, the budget to make these shows have skyrocketed to new heights. With each passing year, a new TV show debuts that contains an extremely, unbelievably, high budget, taking the bar higher and higher in these wars of budgets. Yet some studios have no intention of slowing down. Disney has reportedly spent $180 million on its newest Star Wars series, The Acolyte.
$180 million for a series with 8 30-minute-long episodes, the budget is enormous, especially when compared to other critically acclaimed and expensive TV shows like Game of Thrones or Taylor Sheridan’s 1883.
Disney Reportedly Spent $180 Million on The Acolyte
With the Star Wars universe so wide and expansive, it is hard to follow and keep track of every single event and moment. However, Disney’s upcoming series, The Acolyte, is a standalone Star Wars TV show that requires no prior knowledge of George Lucas’ space opera universe.
Created by Leslye Headland, the series is more representative compared to some projects within the mythos, starring women in prominent roles and featuring an ensemble cast, including people of color. However, when the trailer of the series debuted, fans hardly had any positive reactions in the comments. Currently having just 194K likes and more than 10 million views since it was posted on March 19, the reactions seem concerning seeing how much Disney spent on the series.
In the works for four years, The Acolyte will have 8 episodes, each over 30 minutes long. Debuting on Disney+ soon, the series reportedly cost the studio over $180 million, with $22.5 million per episode (via The New York Times). A shockingly high budget, the series budget puts Game of Thrones at $15 million per episode for 6 episodes in Season 8 (as per Metro.co.uk) to shame.
Even Taylor Sheridan‘s 1883, which contained an incredible cast, cost around $169 million to create 10 45/67-minute-long episodes (via THR) is nothing compared to Disney’s upcoming The Acolyte, at least in terms of its budget.
Fans React to The Acolyte’s Shocking $180 Million Budget
The world of cinema has seen several expensive TV shows debut and fail, such as Disney’s Secret Invasion, which had a whopping $211.6 million production cost! (via Forbes) With each episode costing about $35.5 million, the series was a failure of epic proportions, with many describing it as one of the worst MCU series ever.
Seeing how Disney has failed to live up to the hype anymore, and has been cruelly lambasted by fans for messing up the Star Wars franchise, spending $180 million for a series like The Acolyte is a huge gamble that makes no sense at all. As the cost of the series went viral across social media, this is what fans had to say:
22.5 MILLION PER EPISODE
Why, why would any show need to be this expensive?
— Annaki? (@AncroAnnaki) May 29, 2024
That is crazy insane to make a $180M Disney Star Wars show with only 8 Episodes when it could be better spent on a well made movie.
Disney Star Wars sure knows how to off themselves with such possible expensive FLOPS! pic.twitter.com/cP4jqJt0rI— Kireina Kerner (@KireinaKerner) May 29, 2024
No one asked for this garbage and they spent 180 mill on it
— Tom John (@tendencyteaser) May 29, 2024
— Peace (@Necr0n_99) May 29, 2024
There is no reality where this show is going to be good
— Freckle TV (@FreckleTrivia) May 29, 2024
30 MIN LIVE ACTION STAR WARS IS INSANE! AT LEAST MAKE EPISODES AROUND AN HOUR … wtf
— jack (@_jackgoodwin) May 29, 2024
Containing an incredible cast that includes Amanda Stenberg in the lead, Squid Game’s famed South Korean megastar Lee Jung-jae, Jodie Turner, and Carrie-Anne Moss, fans so far remain unconvinced that the show will even be watchable.
As the series mammoth of a budget continues to make headlines, only time will tell whether it will be Disney’s winning hand or a losing one.
The Acolyte will debut on Disney+ on June 4.
