【Kali Hansa】

TV production costs are Kali Hansaat a record high, according to a new piece from Variety, and Game of Thrones leads the direwolf pack with reported costs of $15 million per episode for its final season.

SEE ALSO: 'Game of Thrones' sets directors for the final season and it's all becoming too real

That's a staggering number, especially juxtaposed with Westworld's budget of approximately $10 million per episode, or a VFX-driven drama like FX's Legion, which costs closer to $4 million. Even Thrones,back in the early days, could reportedly pull off each installment for around $6 million.

And yet, the exorbitant budget for Season 8 makes sense. Thrones has built a formidable following of fans around the world and viewing numbers beyond a network's wildest dreams, all in an era of more than 400 scripted TV shows. From merchandise to concert tours to HBO subscriptions themselves, there's no denying that the show has brought new eyes and wallets to the premium cable network, so in many ways, they've earned it.

If you're confused by how the same show could triple its costs over several years, let's break this down further. Game of Thronesfilms its interiors primarily in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Most of Season 1 took place in these sets, and in Malta for the warm exteriors of King's Landing and Pentos. (Daenerys spent a lot of time indoors with the Khalasar in Season 1. Handy.)

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In Season 2, filming expanded to include Croatia and Iceland, which are now staples of the show's visual ambiance and unmissable trips for Thronesfans who want to tour the locations. Season 3 added Morocco for Daenerys' scenes in Slaver's Bay, and Season 5 added Spain for the contentious Dorne storyline. By Season 3, it was normal for the show to film simultaneously in four countries at once, a feat previously unthinkable with the exception of perhaps Netflix's Sense8(R.I.P.).

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Every time the show adds a country, it adds a crew, the cost of locations, the cost of extras and their costumes, the cost of travel and stay for the main cast and crew. It's a huge operation.

Beyond that, the budget has to rise to accommodate the cast's increasing salaries, and according to jokes I read on Twitter this week, Game of Throneshas a lot of characters! Mashable did not disclose the stars' paydays following summer's HBO hack, but the actors' contracts include bonuses for awards-show wins, and Throneshas swept the Emmys the past two years it was eligible.

And let's not forget the dragon in the room: Those DRAGONS. I'm no Westerosi zoologist, nor am I a visual effects maester, but I'm pretty sure these guys cost a hell of a lot more than those Fabergé eggs from Season 1:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A single episode of Season 7 had nearly eight times as many shots of Daenerys' dragons as all of Season 6 combined. I'm not a betting man, either, but something tells me we'll be seeing as much, if not more, dragon warfare in the show's final season, and it will take millions to make it look as real as the carnage of Season 7.

Mashablereached out to HBO, who declined to comment on budgets.

---

Featured Video For You

---

How 'Game of Thrones' created the epic wight scene in the season finale

---

Topics Game Of Thrones HBO

• Life
• Deals
• Digital Culture
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Tech
• Science
• Entertainment

• Best robot vacuum deal: Save $140 on roborock Q7 Max Robot Vacuum
• See the new NASA spacesuits Artemis III astronauts will wear on the moon
• Wordle today: The answer and hints for June 20
• Best power bank deal: Get the Anker 3
• Watch how an old Venus spacecraft tumbled before crashing to Earth
• England vs. South Africa 2024 livestream: Watch T20 World Cup for free
• Li Auto ramps up chip making with new Hong Kong office: report · TechNode
• ByteDance releases Ola Friend, its first AI smart earbuds · TechNode
• Amazon Pet Day: All the best deals
• Scientists find wild fish swimming below 27,000 feet. How it survives.

• Thousands of Brits want Louis Theroux to be their prime minister, and can you blame them?
• UK government finally, FINALLY scraps the tampon tax
• Somehow, Fox News and Donald Trump come out on top of the Bill O'Reilly fiasco
• Meet the woman who created a Google doc on how to tactical vote
• Everything coming to Hulu in April 2020
• Weinstein sentencing: Why even a win in sexual assault cases can still feel like defeat
• Immortalize the Unicorn Frappuccino forever in your hair
• Twitter promoted an edit feature that's not really an edit feature
• Microsoft launches COVID
• Screw it, here are a bunch of stock photos of Babybel cheese

• Reality Distortion Field: 10 Things Apple Won't Directly Say But We'll Infer About the iPhone X
• NASA picked its Artemis moon astronauts. Here's what they'll do.
• Astronomers just brought a captivating black hole into focus
• NASA Mars rover snaps creepy view of the dark Martian sky
• The Amazon Book Sale is coming April 23 through 28
• NASA Mars rover snaps creepy view of the dark Martian sky
• James Webb telescope offers new look at supernova remnant Cassiopeia A
• Peru vs. Chile 2024 livestream: Watch Copa America for free
• NYT Strands hints, answers for April 23
• NASA spacecraft snaps photos of the most mysterious asteroids

• Switch 2 Nintendo Direct: Everything announced
• ByteDance releases Ola Friend, its first AI smart earbuds · TechNode
• James Webb telescope flexes its muscle with this deep, deep view of space
• Geely's Lynk & Co laucnhes first all
• Instagram tests Storylines, a collaborative twist on Stories
• Slovenia vs. Serbia 2024 livestream: Watch Euro 2024 for free
• Afghanistan vs. India 2024 livestream: Watch T20 World Cup for free
• China objects to EU tariffs on EV imports, pushes for negotiation · TechNode
• Time to Unite
• Best gift card deal: Costco members can grab a $100 Instacart gift card for 20% off