If you're like me, then you probably wonder whether or not Game of Thrones, despite being a critically acclaimed mega-hit, even makes its money back for HBO. After all, the set locations look like Hollywood blockbusters, the CGI usage is abundant, it was streamed over a billion times illegally by people who didn't pony up a dime, and there's approximately a million characters played by actors who reportedly rake in six figures per episode.
Seasons 2 to 5 are said to have had a budget of roughly $8 million per episode; that cost was bumped up to $10 million per episode for season 6. Unsurprisingly, that rising trend will continue, as the series' final season—the big 8—will allegedly cost $15 million per episode. That figure came courtesy of a Variety story that explores the ever-expanding budget for TV productions, which has been driven up by streaming services grabbing such a massive share of the marketplace.
As they wrote about GoT:
Sort of makes you wonder when the TV bubble is going to burst.