Disney has been known to be big spenders when it comes to helpingStar Warsto succeed, and according to new financial statements, the company has indeed had to allocate more funds than expected to three different movies - and at least one TV show.When Disney purchased Lucasfilm, and thusStar Wars, from George Lucas in 2012 for a whopping $4 billion, they set a precedent of spending big to makeStar Warsa success. This is something that has continued in their productions.
As shared by Forbes, new financial statements from Disney reveal for the first time whichStar WarsUK productions actually ended up going over budget. Perhaps surprisingly for many, most of theStar Warssequel trilogy did just fine with their budgets, withStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkereven somehow managing to be under budget.Star Wars: The Last Jedi, however, was the outlier, as it did indeed go over budget. AlsojoiningThe Last Jediare the franchise’s two anthology movies,Rogue One: A Star Wars StoryandSolo: A Star Wars Story.
Andorseason 2 (2025)
Within Budget
In addition to these two movies going over budget wasThe Acolyte, one of only two live-actionStar WarsTV shows produced in the UK. UnlikeAndor, it looks as ifThe Acolytedid indeed go over budget, just to unfortunately underperform for the most part- thus leading to its cancelation. Sinceall otherStar WarsTV showsto date have been produced in the US, it’s unknown as yet ifThe Acolytehas more company in terms of TV shows going over budget, but it’s likely that it’s not alone.
What This Budgeting Means For Star Wars
It’s More Than Just A Movie’s Price Tag
As noted by Forbes, budgets are not equivocal with the actual costs of a movie, butthey are often indicators of unforeseen circumstances impacting a certain movie’s production. This was certainly the case forRogue One,The Last Jedi, andSolo, all of which reportedly required reshoots at some point - with some being heavier than others. As forThe Acolyte, it’s harder to tell what exactly may have impacted production, unless reshoots were also a necessity at some point.
Our Take On Star Wars' Budgets
How Will Their Next Theatrical Productions Fare?
Looking at this list, it’s clear that the bigger the budget doesn’t also guarantee a higher quality of the outcome, which is further evidence of the fact that it’s mostly due to unpredictable circumstances. For example, bothSoloandThe Acolytewent over budget, though the former ended up performing poorly at the box office while the other failed to meet its streaming goals and was ultimately canceled. Of course,that’s the risk that’s taken with new stories, and it doesn’t mean that storytelling risk ought to be stopped.
New Star Wars Movies: Every Upcoming Movie & Release Date
Here’s every upcoming Star Wars movie in development - including Rey’s New Jedi Order, the Dawn of the Jedi, and The Mandalorian & Grogu!
What will be interesting to see is if the production ofStar Wars’next movie,The Mandalorian and Grogu, ended up going either under, within, or over budget. This wasStar Wars’first theatrical production to take place primarily in Los Angeles, presumably using the Volume technology in addition to various other built sets. Seeing as we haven’t heard much about reshoots for this movie, I would safely assume thatStar Warswas able to keep this particular production within budget.
The Mandalorian and Grogu
