It's been more than a year since news started wafting down the pipeline noting that Netflix's new series The Crown might be spending $150 million dollars to create new episodes. Various reports disagreed about the number of seasons that $150 million would cover, with some quoting one season and others quoting two or more. The confusion around the price tag has led many outlets to declare the show Netflix's most expensive to date, or in some instances, the most expensive TV series ever. Regardless, over the weekend show creator Peter Morgan spoke out to set the record straight.
The Crown isn't the most expensive series ever made. In fact, it's not even the most expensive Netflix series, according to Morgan. THR caught up with the showrunner at the MOMA in New York, where he revealed exactly how much The Crown cost. He vehemently denied it's the most expensive show ever made, noting:
Not at all. It's not. There's sums of money that people talk about. I don't know. It was $100 million for two seasons.
So, there you have it. While $100 million bucks is a pretty big price tag, especially for a brand new series, it isn't wholly unprecedented. Reports have indicated that Netflix has shelled out that much at least for one series before, as House of Cards was also reported to get a 2-year, $100 million dollar deal when the streaming service signed on for the drama. That's a price tag that paid off. In addition, reports have also noted that Baz Luhrmann's The Get Down cost a whopping $120 million for its first season. Obviously, it's hard to tell if these numbers are exact, especially considering the topic in this article, but they do provide an interesting comparison. What is clear, too, is that Netflix is spending a lot of money on originals.
Elsewhere on TV, the last season of Game of Thrones cost a reported $10 million dollars per episode, which would put its budget at about $100 million, as well. Past shows, including Friends, Boardwalk Empire and Rome have also been notable for their production budgets. On Boardwalk Empire, for instance, the boardwalk much of the series was shot on reportedly cost $5 million dollars to construct. The Friends cast is also famous for making $1 million apiece per episode, leading to higher production costs.
Whether or not The Crown is Netflix's most expensive series, it is certainly a lavish one. The period drama takes a look at Queen Elizabeth's life throughout her reign, and is filled with lush and impressive settings. If you haven't given it a watch yet, you don't even have to wait. All episodes of the show's first season hit Netflix's service this weekend on November 4. To find out what other big budget adventures Netflix has coming up, you can check out our Netflix premiere schedule.
