Netflix’s Arcane is the most expensive animated series ever with $250 million budget: report

Netflix’s Arcane is said to be far and away the most expensive animated TV series of all time, with a budget of $250 million USD (about $348 million CAD)

Word comes by way of Variety in a new report outlining the transmedia plans of Riot Games, the maker of the League of Legends video game upon which Arcane is based. Per the publication, Riot has had grand multimedia ambitions for its popular online game, but Arcane is the only part of them to actually manifest so far. As a result, the company has spent a quarter of a billion dollars on both seasons of the show. The second season, which begins a three-week run on November 9th, will also be the series’ last.

While that’s certainly a hefty sum, many would agree it was worth it, with Arcane earning rave reviews for its compelling and emotionally charged story and incredible animation from the French studio Fortiche.

Interestingly, Variety reports that the forthcoming second season reportedly cost significantly less than the first season. The publication also notes that Riot paid for the series’ marketing itself, which included an undoubtedly expensive takeover of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

Arcane is set to conclude the big conflicts between Vi (Hailee Steinfeld) and her sister Jinx (Ella Purnell) and the societies of Zaun and Piltover. Netflix has also confirmed that it has plans for spin-offs of the show that may include some familiar characters. That said, Variety reports that these are all in the early stages at most, following the dissolution of Riot’s dedicated entertainment division. In response, Riot co-founder and chief product officer Marc Merrill told Variety, “We have projects in development and are just as excited about the possibilities in TV and film as we’ve ever been,” so it remains to be seen what, if anything, comes out of those efforts.

For now, at least, we have more Arcane to look forward to.

Image credit: Netflix

Source: Variety