The budget for Star Wars: Andor was actually $650 million.

The total budget allocated by Lucafilm studio for the series “Star Wars: Andor” (Star Wars: Andor) amounted to approximately $650 million. The showrunner of the project and screenwriter Tony Gilroy spoke about this.

The information was first revealed by the portal Forbes, which in recent months has been carefully studying the accounting of the companyDisneyconnected with the UK. As journalists noted, $645 million was allocated for the series, excluding marketing and production outside the United Kingdom. At the same time, the British authorities provide tax breaks that allow you to return up to 25% of the money if it was spent within the country.

As part of the ATX Television Festival, Gilroy revealed that he faced resistance from Disney management throughout production. Initially, the company did not want to approve a project about the Empire, as this could narrow the potential audience.

During the development of the second season, Disney's position changed. Now the company did not want to allocate exorbitant budgets because “streaming is dead” and the financial capabilities of the House of Mickey Mouse were significantly reduced. This is especially ironic since Disney is trying to develop three simultaneously streaming services (Disney Plus, Huluand ESPN Plus), which manage to bring in less money than HBO Max, which has a significantly lower audience.

We would like to add that the concerns of the company management were justified. The first season of Andor flopped, failing to attract a significant audience despite good reviews. A similar situation developed around the second season.