One Piece and the 11 most expensive Netflix shows

Over the years, Netflix has put out some amazing, high-quality content, but many of these projects often come with a hefty price tag. Obviously, Netflix wants to stay ahead of its competitors, and to do so, they have to keep investing and giving the audience more of what they want. Sadly, the streamer sometimes releases new Netflix shows that completely miss the mark. And these shows cost a pretty penny.

However, that hasn’t stopped the streamer from shelling out tons amounts of money on new content to please subscribers. They’re willing to take chances because, at the end of the day, it’s a business. In order to keep and increase their subscriber base, the top streamer has to keep investing and hope there are more hits than not.

We’ve decided to look back at some of the most expensive Netflix shows all the way up to 2023, with a new release joining the bunch. While Netflix isn’t always forthcoming with the budgets for its shows, but there have been estimates and educational guesses that have come out about some of the budgets for the biggest Netflix shows.

Here are 10 of the most expensive Netflix shows below!

Most expensive Netflix shows

One Piece

Estimated budget: $18 million per episode

According to Cosmopolitan, Netflix’s latest hit show One Piece, a live-action adaptation of the incredibly popular manga and anime, was also one of its costliest productions. The new series reportedly cost the streaming service around $18 million per episode and since there are eight episodes in the debut season, that means Netflix likely spent around $138 million, and that’s not including the marketing budget. Netflix has done extensive marketing of the Straw Hat Pirates worldwide, meaning they likely spent closer to $150 million or more on the show’s first season alone.

Stranger Things

Estimated budget: $30 million per episode (as of season 4)

Stranger Things is not only one of Netflix’s top original series but now is the streamer’s most expensive series. According to ScreenRant, each episode of Stranger Things season 4 cost Netflix $30 million. That is a huge jump from season 1’s estimated budget of $6 million per episode, season 2’s budget of $8 million per episode, and season 3’s budget of less than $10 million per episode. Netflix has not confirmed this budget amount, but we wouldn’t be surprised if this is actually true.

Orange Is the New Black

Estimated budget: $4 million per episode

Orange Is the New Black was one of Netflix’s first original series and it was an instant success with viewers. The prison drama reportedly cost Netflix $4 million per episode to make. This show had a huge ensemble cast, so it was expected that the budget would be on the higher side. Plus, the show became more popular over its run which likely meant a raise for the actors. Lastly, it had a series run of seven seasons. The more seasons, the higher the budget.

House of Cards

Estimated budget: $5 million per episode

House of Cards is Netflix’s first original series, so of course, the streamer would put a lot of money into making the political thriller. Plus, it starred notable actors who probably cost quite a bit for Netflix to retain across all six seasons. The show reportedly cost $5 million per episode to make.

Bridgerton

Estimated budget: $7 million per episode

Bridgerton is an extremely popular show and it’s only getting more popular with each season. Season 1 reportedly cost $7 million per episode to make. Most of the cast in season 1 were newcomers to the entertainment industry, so we doubt the high budget was from their pay. The expensive budget most likely comes from the various locations and intricate costumes. It’s unclear how much season 2 cost to make, but there probably was a bump of about $1-2 million.

Bloodline

Estimated budget: $7-8 million per episode

Bloodline was personally one of my favorite television series. Sadly, the thriller series was canceled after three seasons. Netflix never gave the reason why the show was canceled, but it wasn’t hard to figure it out. Bloodline had rising production costs and people had started losing interest in the show. It just didn’t make sense financially for Netflix to continue the show.

The Defenders

Estimated budget: $8 million per episode

One of Netflix’s Marvel shows The Defenders reportedly cost around $8 million per episode to make. This isn’t shocking because other Netflix Marvel shows like Jessica Jones and Daredevil had budgets of around $40 million per season with 13 episodes in each season. This means each episode would be about $3 million to make. The Defenders brought all the superheroes from the other Netflix Marvel shows together, so a higher budget makes sense.

Sense8

Estimated budget: $9 million per episode

Sense8 was received well by critics and viewers alike, but the positive response wasn’t enough. The sci-fi show’s production costs were pretty expensive with filming taking place in various countries and not enough people were watching the show to warrant additional seasons. Fortunately, Netflix gave fans a two-and-a-half-hour series finale to wrap things up.

The Witcher

Estimated budget: $10 million per episode

The Witcher‘s budget isn’t shocking at all. If you just watch five minutes of an episode, you’ll understand why it cost so much to make. As reported by Gamepressure, the first season of the fantasy series cost $10 million per episode to make. The detailed sets, fight choreography, CGI monsters, and special effects all play a part in the cost.

And Henry Cavill’s salary for the show was pretty impressive itself. Costs might go down a bit moving forward now that Cavill is no longer on the series, but at the same time, generally shows get more expensive as time goes on so it’s hard to say if there will be a big difference in budget once Liam Hemsworth joins as Geralt.

The Get Down

Estimated budget: $11 million per episode

The Get Down was given only one season before being canceled by the streamer. I mean, the show was insanely expensive to make. The first season was only supposed to cost the streamer around $97 million to make and ended up costing about $120 million. The show didn’t require any special effects or have a well-known cast, so there’s no reason for the show to have cost this much.

The Crown

Estimated budget: $13 million per episode

The Crown premiered on Netflix in November 2016 and was an instant hit. It is the most expensive original series that Netflix has ever created, but it looks like Stranger Things is coming for the crown. The expensive budget mostly comes from the rich set designs, costumes, cinematography, and production values. The Crown season 6 is slated to arrive on Netflix later this year.