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Disney has revealed that the cost of making Star Wars streaming show Andor has surged to $645 million (£504.8 million) after it spent a record $290.9 million (£232.1 million) last year on filming its second season which will debut in April 2025.
It is the highest-ever annual spending on a Star Wars production disclosed in Disney’s public filings. The staggering sum eclipses the $280.7 million (£211.8 million) spent on Star Wars: The Last Jedi over the almost 11 month period to March 16, 2019. Likewise, it is higher than the $243.8 million (£193.6 million) cost of The Force Awakens, Disney’s debut entry in the sci-fi saga, during the year-ending November 15, 2016.
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Remarkably, the cost of Andor’s second season is set to soar even higher as the $290.9 million was spent during the year to November 22, 2023 which doesn’t even cover all of the shoot. Filming began in November 2022 but was suspended in summer 2023 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. It resumed in January this year and wrapped the following month though this was far from the end of the story.
even with the ‘bad’ movies, ‘bad’ shows, and that ridiculous hotel, the $4b purchase price was covered long ago. they’re netting like $1b a year on average off star wars so far.
Sure they covered the purchase price, and are making a profit, but i’d have to imagine they thought they would be making a lot more money from the brand than they are. In an investor document filed with the SEC earlier this year, the return on investment for the Star Wars IP 4th for at 2.9x, where as Frozen has a 9.9x return.
Also in this document it states that Disney+ is negative $1.4 billion. I’m unsure how the accounting was performed, but would have to imagine that at least some of production costs for Star Wars shows on Disney+ are being attributed to Disney+, whereas the merchandising profits (Baby Yoda dolls) are being attributed to the Star Wars brand directly, inflating the Star Wars return on investment.