The Mandalorian budget has been revealed — and it’s big

In an attempt to break the Netflix/Amazon Video stranglehold on the streaming market, Disney is betting on its content — like The Mandalorian — to win customers for its Disney+ service. And it’s betting big.

Following news that The Mandalorian has a confirmed second season in the works, new information has surfaced regarding the production values behind the series. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the flagship Disney+ series has a first season budget of nearly $120 million.

Sources at the Wall Street Journal suggest that The Mandalorian has been allocated a per-episode budget of $15 million. As a comparable, this figure is in line with the final season of HBO’s outrageously popular Game of Thrones.

More from The Mandalorian

In pure financial terms, the first season of The Mandalorian is being very well backed. Given the worldwide dominance of Netflix and Amazon Video in particular, it’s clear that Disney feel they require absolute “must-see” exclusives on their Disney+ platform.

Considering Star Wars and Marvel are the two biggest names in popular culture today, having series set within these universes is, of course, one way of going about it.

What is also clear is that audiences won’t feel short-changed, regarding the production values of these series’. Though not quite at the level of the Star Wars films (The Last Jedi had a budget of between $200-320 million, depending on who you ask), $120 million is a figure not incomparable to big budget modern films. Shazam!, released earlier this year, was made for less than this entire season. That should give you some idea as to the scope of the series.

Either way, consider us (even more) excited. I’m always open to more Star Wars content, of course. However, knowing that a live action series will be given a similar level of attention and resource as a major blockbuster film, that goes someway to keeping my interest piqued.

Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long before we see some actual footage of this financial backing in action.

What are your thoughts as we head towards The Mandalorian? Are you excited for the series, or somewhat skeptical? Let us know in the comments!