Disney Finally Reveals Which Star Wars Series Cost the Most to Make

Disney has finally shared how much it spent on making the Star Wars series Andor, and the total is huge. New financial filings from E&E Industries, the company set up to handle the production in the United Kingdom, show that season two alone cost $60.5 million in 2024.

When added to the work done on season one, the full cost reached $705.5 million. Disney said the show stayed within its budget, but the spending still ended up being higher than any Star Wars movie ever produced.

Andor has been one of Disney’s rare long-lasting hits from the Star Wars universe since the company bought Lucasfilm in 2012. The series follows Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, and takes place five years before the original Star Wars trilogy.

Fans praised the show because it relied heavily on real sets and practical effects, which helped give it a grounded look. In an interview with ComicBookMovie, special effects supervisor Neal Scanlan said that around six weeks of early prep work had already been completed before the U.K. went into lockdown in March 2020.

The first season came out in 2022 and received strong reactions from audiences, landing an 88 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Getting the second season made took much longer. It was delayed by the writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 and didn’t premiere until April this year. Even with the long wait, viewers rated it highly again, this time at 89 percent. The show may have taken years to finish, but the response suggests the effort paid off.

The reason the exact spending is known is because productions filmed in the U.K. can receive reimbursements from the government. To qualify, the companies must share detailed financial statements that include everything from total spending to staff wages and reimbursement amounts. Andor qualified, which is why so much information became public. For example, the filings show that before E&E Industries began working on Andor, it had already spent $7.2 million connected to pre-production on the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, according to Forbes’ report.

Andor was filmed at Pinewood Studios and in several locations around the U.K. A London metro station was used as the Imperial Security Bureau’s base, and a quiet seaside town in northern England doubled as the planet Niamos. But the production faced many stops and starts during the pandemic. The company received a $1.6 million grant from the U.K. government and also collected $2 million from insurance to help cover delays.

By November 22, 2024, the filings showed that both seasons of Andor had cost $705.5 million in total. Since the second season was released months later, the final number may grow when next year’s filings come out.

Removing the early Obi-Wan Kenobi spending brings the cost of Andor itself to around $698.3 million. The filings also show that $85.5 million was paid out in wages, which is the highest payroll Disney has ever had for a U.K. production. Staff levels peaked in 2023, with an average of 501 employees each month, not counting freelancers and contractors.

After reimbursements and tax credits, E&E Industries received $142.3 million back. Once grants and insurance payments were included, Disney’s net cost for Andor came to about $552.4 million. Even with government support, it remains one of the most expensive TV projects ever made.

Disney has been investing heavily in U.K. productions. Last year, the company said it had spent $4.8 billion on movies and shows in the U.K. since 2019. Data from the British Film Institute shows how important the film industry is to the country, with tens of thousands of jobs created across London and the rest of the country each year.

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