TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE TV SERIES OF ALL TIME: We are in the Golden Age of Television due to media distribution technologies and streaming services. What was once a casual amusement of 20-minute comedy and small-scale studio productions has developed into high-quality productions with cinematic budgets.
This age of Prestige TV surpasses film budget. This period of TV is marked by improved production standards, prominent movie directors and stars, and spin-offs of well-known series.
LIST of MOST EXPENSIVE TV SERIES OF ALL TIME
‘Halo’ (2022)—$10 million each episode
Paramount+ adapted the Halo video game property for television. Halo takes the fight between UNSC and the Covenant to the tiny screen.
As one of the most popular video game franchises, Halo could depend on its fans. Fans feel that the CGI might have been better at $10 million each episode. Season one’s production was affected by the epidemic, but supporters expect season two to be larger and better.
‘The Crown’ (2016)—$13 million per episode
Period dramas are costly. Netflix’s The Crown has spared no expense in constructing historically realistic sets, clothes, hair, and makeup and recruiting performers who look and sound like their real-life counterparts.
The Crown’s $13 million per episode budget shows in its detail. With multiple honours for costuming and a cast acclaimed for accurately portraying real-life counterparts, it’s easy to see why a series about royalty needs a hefty budget.
‘Game of Thrones’ (2011-2019)—$15 million each episode
Game of Thrones adapted George R. R. Martin’s fantasy books for TV. The tale follows the power struggle between various noble houses and has a big cast of recurring characters throughout Westeros.
From the Iron Islands to the icy North, Game of Thrones’ shooting locales are spectacular. Season 1 budgeted $5-6 million each episode. In the last season, the actors and crew travelled to the UK, Croatia, Iceland, Spain, Malta, and Morocco.
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‘See’ (2019)—$15 million per episode
The Apple TV+ series See is set in a dystopian future when mankind has lost the capacity to see. The birth of two children who can see is deemed heresy.
The $15 million per episode expenditure may be owing to Jason Mamoa and director/producer Francis Lawrence, but Vancouver is the main reason. The production crew drained a Vancouver lake, constructed a hamlet, and then refilled it after shooting.
‘The Mandalorian’ (2019)—$15 million per episode
The Mandalorian, one of Disney+’s initial original shows, is the first live-action Star Wars TV series. Set after Return of the Jedi, it follows a bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) who rescues a Yoda-like child on a mission to find his people.
The $15 million per episode expenditure is owing to creative filming methods. The Mandalorian employed StageCraft instead of a green screen to immerse performers in digital environments using enormous LED video displays created in real-time.
‘The Pacific’ (2010)—$20 million per episode
The Pacific was the most costly miniseries at the time, revolving on the WWII fight of Peleliu.
The HBO miniseries won praise for its historical accuracy and magnificent Pacific Ocean battle sequences. The Pacific seems like a TV programme on a large cinematic scale thanks to Spielberg, Hanks, and Hans Zimmer.
‘House of the Dragon’ (2022)—$20 million per episode
House of the Dragon broke HBO audience records with approximately 10 million viewers. The series is set two centuries before Game of Thrones and focuses on the House of Targaryen and the civil war that led to their collapse and the departure of dragons from Westeros.
With additional CGI dragons and the predicted popularity of a Game of Thrones prequel, the $20 million per episode budget has allowed the series to extend the narrative of Westeros three years after Game of Thrones’ contentious finale.
‘WandaVision’—$25 million each episode
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a prominent film series. Marvel’s push into television following the Infinity Saga’s end cost $400 million for Avengers: Endgame.
Marvel paid $25 million each episode on WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and Hawkeye once Disney+ launched in 2019. With She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Marvel is dominating both the big and small screens.
‘Stranger Things’ (2016)—$30 million per episode
Stranger Things, one of Netflix’s most popular long-running programmes, has gone from a small town story about a missing child and ’80s allusions to a darker, action-packed horror sci-fi thriller with hidden government facilities, Russian conspiracies, and military participation.
Season 4 has ambitious stories and a $30 million per episode budget. Season four’s larger budget allowed for greater action, thrills, and 90-minute episodes that felt like movies.
‘Rings of Power’ (2022) – $58 million per episode
At $58 million each episode and $465 million altogether, Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is the most expensive TV series ever filmed, surpassing the $281 million budget of the film series.
Rings of Power explores Middle Earth thousands of years before The Hobbit, from Eregion to Khazad-dûm. With extravagant scenery, costumes, and a big story, it’s expected that the fantasy franchise’s TV debut would have a hefty budget.
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