Netflix, Take Notes: HBO Spent a Mere $20 Million Per Episode on ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel
Seems like Westeros is going through a recession.
On Friday, Variety reported that HBO spent less than $20 million per episode to make the hotly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, which is set to begin on August 21 of this year.
The $20 million price tag per episode compares to Game of Thrones’ approximate total season cost of $100 million. When the show began in 2011, episodes cost around $6 million to make, with the number reaching $15 million by the final season in 2019. Considering the changes in the streaming landscape since the Thrones series finale and the quality of special effects necessary for a project of this caliber, $20 million is, somewhat unbelievably, being touted as… not that much money? The Variety article points to the price tag as a sign of production efficiency.