Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy has confirmed the Star Wars show’s mᴀssive rumored budget. Streaming budgets have ballooned over the years, with epic shows like Stranger Things, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Severance, and The Wheel of Time costing inordinate amounts of money (The Rings of Power season 1, for instance, cost Amazon an estimated $462 million). Comparatively speaking, most, though certainly not all, of the Star Wars live-action shows were produced on relatively modest budgets.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka cost between $90-100 million per season, while one season of The Mandalorian costs around $120 million. Recently, however, Star Wars’ streaming budgets have turned the tide; The Acolyte, which was canceled after one season, had a reported budget of $231 million, and Andor‘s budget went far beyond that. During a recent panel at the ATX Television Festival (via IndieWire), Gilroy confirmed that Andor spent a whopping $650 million combined on both seasons.

“I mean, [for] Disney, this is $650 million,” [Gilroy] said. “For 24 episodes, I never took a note. We said ‘F*ck the Empire’ in the first season, and they said, ‘Can you please not do that?’ … In Season 2, they said, ‘Streaming is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, we don’t have the money we had before,’ so we fought hard about money, but they never cleaned anything up. That [freedom] comes with responsibilities.”

Disney Is Stepping Back From Streaming

Given the size of Andor’s budget, it is, in all honesty, a miracle that audiences got to see this series, and it’s even more surprising that Gilroy, by his own account, dealt with very little oversight. As Gilroy confesses, he and Disney did clash over the money at certain points, and understandably so, but he still got to tell the story he wanted to without holding back. Andor is about dictatorships, genocide, and the personal cost of rebellion, and Disney’s support of it, both financially and artistically, has been a pleasant surprise.

Perhaps, given Disney’s support of Andor, it may be a shock to hear they believe that “streaming is ᴅᴇᴀᴅ,” but it shouldn’t be. Disney+ doesn’t have the same pull as a platform like Netflix does with its original shows, no matter what major franchise they may be attached to. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is cutting back on creating new streaming series, and so is Star Wars. Only one live-action Star Wars show is currently in the works (Ahsoka season 2), a major change from the last few years when audiences could expect two or three new seasons within months.

Disney and Lucasfilm are heading back to the big screen, with two confirmed upcoming releases – The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter – and a handful of other Star Wars movie projects in active (or not-so-active) development. Disney’s focus on the theatrical experience is understandable. Right now, it’s a safer bet. But if the streaming bubble had to burst, I’m glad it remained in place long enough to give us Andor.

Our Take On Andor’s Budget

It’s difficult to calculate exactly how Andor’s budget was spent. We do, however, know that Gilroy and Andor’s crew heavily favored location shoots and mᴀssive, practical sets, which is an expensive yet worthwhile endeavor. Very few live-action Star Wars shows look and feel as good as Andor. Everything is tangible, and that translates to the actors’ performances.

I also genuinely believe Andor has done more for Star Wars’ reputation as a franchise than any other Star Wars show. Yes, The Mandalorian was a mᴀssive hit when it was first released, but even that sub-franchise has lost some of its luster, especially after a divisive third season. On the other hand, Andor has shown audiences a different side of Star Wars. It has amplified the franchise’s most important themes while respecting the source material and given viewers a new, more mature perspective on the galaxy far, far away.

Can you truly put a price on the kind of critical acclaim and universal praise that Andor has received in the wake of season 2? It’s still being discussed and analyzed in the media, even weeks after the finale aired on Disney+. Andor has given audiences and creators a glimpse of what Star Wars can be, and that kind of limitless potential is arguably priceless.

Source: IndieWire