‘Andor’ Production Reportedly Cost Disney $645M+ For Two Seasons, More Than ‘Rise Of Skywalker’

Production on the two-season run of Disney/Lucasfilm’s Andor TV series will end up costing far more than the big-screen finale of the franchise’s most recent trilogy. The production cost of Season 2 alone, which a new report indicates will be well over $290.9M, is more than the production cost of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which Deadline pegged at $275M. The total production tally for Andor’s two seasons is put at $645M-plus.

The Andor numbers come courtesy of a story from Forbes which cites a yearly U.K. financial report required from productions that take advantage of tax rebates there.

The show’s second season was buffeted by delays related to the dual strikes, with Andor creator/showrunner Tony Gilroy declaring he ceased all writing-related duties on May 1, 2023 amid the WGA strike. Further, Deadline reported exclusively on July 20, 2023 that Andor would be forced to temporarily pause its Season 2 shoot due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Production delays, of course, cost money. The Andor S2 hiatus also means that the entire S2 production cost is not captured in the U.K. filing, which covers only 2023. Since the show resumed shooting in January 2024 and wrapped in February, the actual production total for the show will be higher. Also adding to show’s bottom-line cost will be post-production outlays, which are not included in the 2023 accounting.

On the other side of the ledger is a hefty $129M tax rebate for the entirety of the show.

Creator Tony Gilroy planned the series as a two-season adventure with the second season leading up to the events in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, where audiences were first introduced to Luna’s Cassian Andor.

Gilroy told Deadline that the final episode of S2 would take place “three, four days before the beginning of Rogue One, and then our final scene has always been known, which will be walking him into the first scene of Rogue One.” 

Read More About:

Sign Up