Exactly How Big is House of the Dragon Season 2 Budget?
HOTD just got a whole lot more epic! But how much more expensive did it get?
Summary
- HOTD Season 1 cost HBO $200 million, not including marketing costs.
- Season 2 has an increased budget, confirmed by HBO and Max's CEO
The second season of House of the Dragon, arguably the biggest show currently airing on HBO and Max, has been on the air for a month now, and in the episodes released so far, we've encountered seemingly even bloodier events than in Season 1.
The role of old characters has increased, new ones have appeared, and visual effects have become even more prevalent with battles between dragonriders coming to the fore. But how much did House of the Dragon Season 2 cost to produce?
What Was the Budget for Hotd Season 1?
The civil war, aptly named the Dance of the Dragons, is in full swing and sweeping across Westeros. And as we saw in the fourth episode of Season 2 with the death of Rhaenys (Eve Best), clashes in which key players on both sides die are inevitable. Moreover, even bigger confrontations than the battle at Rook's Rest are on the horizon.
But as we know, Season 1 was just as strong. Sure, most of the action took place in the courtrooms of King's Landing, but there's no denying the production values.
Speaking of which, according to Variety's 2022 report, each of the ten episodes of Season 1 cost HBO approximately $20 million. In other words, the season came in at $200 million, and that doesn't include the $100 million spent on marketing.
By Season 2, the Production Costs Had Increased
During the world premiere of the second season of House of the Dragon at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, HBO and Max chief Casey Bloys confirmed that the show's budget has indeed increased:
'I'm guessing that they've had a couple of conversations saying, "Where's all that HBO money go?" And my hope is that you see it on screen tonight. The dragons are very cool, they're very expensive, but I did ask the production team to give me an idea of what it takes to put on a season of House of the Dragon or a show of this size.'
Bloys also mentioned some interesting numbers that characterize the scale of the production:
'These are real numbers, I'm not making this up. 270 shooting days, 2500 crew members, 9000 extras, eight visual effects houses in seven countries, 2600 arrows, 2000 pairs of boots, 114 wigs, and 33 gallons of blood — to give you an idea what it takes.'
Unfortunately, the exact amount of the budget per episode remains undisclosed (though perhaps we will find out after the series is over), but a good indicator can be the budget increase in Game of Thrones. For example, the first five seasons were $6 million per episode, seasons 6 and 7 were $10 million per episode, and the final season is already $15 million per episode. It is quite possible that the HOTD Season 2 budget has seen a similar increase.
Was It a Big Hit for HBO's Wallet?
Of course, that's nothing compared to the budget of House of the Dragon's main TV fantasy competitor, Prime Video's The Rings of Power. Its budget is estimated at a staggering $60 million per episode. However, we have no reason to believe that HOTD Season 2 has grown to the same financial magnitude.
It's not that HBO is penny-pinching. On the contrary, the HOTD production team had built almost all of the necessary facilities by the time the second season was filmed. Also, unlike Prime, HBO has enough experience to optimize production costs without sacrificing quality. This is why House of the Dragon looks much more expensive than The Rings of Power, even though it actually cost less.
The new episode of House of the Dragon Season 2 will be released on July 21.