Live-Action Star Wars Disney Plus Series Skeleton Crew Will Have $136 Million Budget

A new story by The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the new Star Wars series Skeleton Crew will have a budget of $136MM for its first season, which reportedly started shooting a few weeks ago.



While no episode count has been revealed, it's safe to assume it will be between six and eight episodes, meaning each episode will have a budget of $17MM-$22.5MM (on average). This would be even more than what it cost to make each episode of The Mandalorian, which was around $12MM-$15MM. Inflation probably played a big role in rising prices, as did enlisting Jon Watts as creator and executive producer, who is coming off the monster success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Jude Law, who plays the lead adult role in the show. Even then, each episode will probably have even more budget for visual effects than The Mandalorian did back in its first season -- and now the technology is already built.



It will also become one of the most expensive television shows of all time. According to a Yahoo Finance listing, it only falls behind Marvel's series for Disney Plus (which reportedly spent up to $25MM per episode each), Stranger Things season 4 ($30MM per episode), and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (almost $50MM per episode).



Skeleton Crew is currently filming in Los Angeles, and according to THR, its large budget will mean that the state of California returns $20.9MM in tax breaks to Lucasfilm (around 15% of the season's budget), due to their spending in the state that will boost the economy.







Not many details are known about the series, besides the fact that it will follow four kids lost in the galaxy trying to find their way home, and that Jude Law will play the lead adult in the show (still unknown if he's playing friend or foe). The cast of kids has yet to be revealed, though an announcement could be made at D23 this September. The series is set in the Mandalorian era, and is also executive produced by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.



Skeleton Crew is targeting a 2023 release date.



SOURCE: The Hollywood Reporter



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