Big-time movie franchises are more than capable of cashing in at the box office, but in recent years, these universes have been trying to make waves on the television, as well. Star Wars, the MCU, and DC are all huge franchises, and they have been steadily building a presence on television that helps expand a larger shared universe for the fans to sink their teeth into.
Back in 2019, The Mandalorian made its debut on Disney+ and immediately became a smash hit for the platform. Fans of the franchise have been loving a story that doesn’t focus on the Skywalker family, and they really enjoy seeing high-quality production come to the small screen.
Let’s dive in and see how much money it costs Disney to make The Mandalorian come to life!
Each Episode Costs Around $15 Million
All it takes is just one look at an episode of The Mandalorian to see that Disney is sparing no expense to make the best show possible. Turns out, the company is putting up a pretty penny for each episode.
It has been reported that it can cost up to $15 million for a single episode of The Mandalorian to be made! That is a ton of money for a single episode of a show, but to be fair, the sets, costumes, and everything else that goes into making the show great is incredibly high quality.
As we have seen in the past, other popular shows like Game of Thrones have also shelled out a ton of money for their biggest episodes, and this type of investment can go a long way in reeling in the fans and keeping them coming back for more. No, a huge budget does not guarantee success, but it does show the type of faith that a studio and a network have in their biggest projects.
With roughly $15 million being shelled out per episode, some may get curious about the type of money that the actors are pulling down. At this time, there is no definitive data showing how much stars like Pedro Pascal are getting paid for the show, but we have to imagine that they are being handsomely compensated.
One episode of this beloved series costs Disney a whole lot of cash, so it goes without saying that the budget for one season can reach outrageous heights.
One Season Is Roughly $120 Million
At $15 million a pop, the episodes of The Mandalorian that people love to watch each week come with a hefty cost. Over the course of a single season, Disney finds themselves making a massive investment for the fans at home.
It has been reported that a single season of The Mandalorian can cost as much as $120 million for Disney to make. This was an incredible amount of money to invest in a project that had no guarantee of being a success, but the studio was clearly confident in what Jon Favreau was going to bring to the table with the franchise.
Disney has gotten some huge hits with Favreau at the helm, so the working relationship that they have established must have played a part in the project’s budget. Favreau made Iron Man, The Jungle Book, and The Lion King for Disney, according to IMDb, and all of those projects would be hugely successful.
After the first season came to an end, fans were confident that this part of the Star Wars franchise was headed in the right direction thanks to Favreau, and if the start of season 2 is any indication, then things are only going to get bigger and better.
So, with a massive budget that exceeds $100 million, some have started to wonder how that stacks up with some of the films in the Star Wars universe.
How It Stacks Up To The Films
Over the years, Star Wars has released 9 episodic films with 2 others thrown into the mix for good measure. These films, particularly the newer ones, have had massive budgets. So, how does the budget for The Mandalorian stack up against some of the films that have helped change the movie industry.
According to Fandom, the budget for The Mandalorian is more than that of the original trilogy combined! Now, those films did come out in the 70s and 80s and movies weren’t really getting the same type of money that they are now. However, it is still wild to see that this series cost more than their combined budget.
When compared to the prequel trilogy, The Mandalorian’s season budget is on par with what each film cost to make. It even costs more than The Phantom Menace in terms of budget. As for the modern sequel trilogy, each of those films cost significantly more to make than The Mandalorian.
Overall, the price tag to bring The Mandalorian to life is a steep one for Disney, but clearly, it has been worth every single penny.