The Disney+ Star Wars TV series Andor, created and showrun by Tony Gilroy, reportedly carried a massive budget, which the creator says was justified because the show could not be made cheaply. The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the show had a production cost of $250 million for 12 episodes in Season 1, which would break down to $20 million per episode. The story is unclear if $250 million was the budget for the first season or both.
Gilroy said his team “got lucky” because Disney greenlit the show during the “gold rush” of TV deals when companies like Disney and others were spending big money to create content. He continued saying that “A lot of people now have cold feet, and you can’t do this show inexpensively. I’m just so relieved at the reaction because we were making this huge, obscure thing, and we knew it was crazy. Like, ‘Is this too much? Have we gone too far?’ There were no focus groups or test audiences. Now it will be good if we can stick the landing and go out strong.”
Andor is a prequel to the movie Rogue One, which Gilroy also wrote. Diego Luna stars on Andor as the main character, Cassian Andor. The cast also includes Kyle Soller, Stellan Skarsgard, Genevieve O’Reilly, and Anton Lesser. The TV show is coming back for a second and final season, which is set for release in August 2024.
Future Star Wars Projects
On the more immediate horizon, the Star Wars TV show Ahsoka will debut this August on Disney Plus. Another show, The Acolyte, is coming at some point later. In terms of Star Wars movies, Disney recently announced the release dates for a number of upcoming films.
Andor’s massive budget of $250 million is justified because the show couldn’t be made cheaply. Disney greenlit the show during the “gold rush” of TV deals when companies like Disney and others were spending big money to create content. Tony Gilroy and his team were apprehensive about the show’s success, but the positive response to the show has put them at ease. Andor is a prequel to the movie Rogue One and will be returning for a second and final season in August 2024. Other Star Wars projects are also in the works, including Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and upcoming films.
Leave a Reply