Severance is the crown jewel in Apple TV+’s (underrated) library of shows. It’s also very expensive. Bloomberg reports that every episode in season two of the Emmy-winning series costs roughly $20 million, “making it one of the most expensive projects on TV.” That’s as much as House of the Dragon, but Severance doesn’t have any dragons (yet?) — why is the budget so high?
According to Forbes, Severance executive producer Ben Stiller planned to make a movie for Amazon between season one and two, and he asked House of Cards creator and Andor writer Beau Willimon to assist with the upcoming season and possibly even oversee season three. But “plans for the Amazon movie fell apart… Stiller decided to remain in charge of Severance (alongside [creator Dan] Erickson). Apple ended up paying Willimon millions to contribute to a few episodes.” The WGA and SAG strikes cost a pretty penny, too.
The company is now in the middle of discussions about future seasons of Severance. Apple can’t wait to make more of the show, but management has a request for Stiller and the show’s studio, Fifth Season. They need to bring down the cost.
At least Severance (which finally returns in 2025) is a bargain compared to The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
(Via Bloomberg)