$30 Million Per Episode: This Western Series Is Among the Most Expensive Ever!

When discussing the most expensive TV series in history, one might first think of Marvel productions or fantasy epics like Game of Thrones or The Rings of Power. It’s less common to consider a Western series in this category of high-budget television blockbusters. Yet, one of the priciest series ever produced is indeed a Western, specifically 1923, a prequel to the highly popular recent series Yellowstone. Set over 80 years before the main series’ storyline, it stars Harrison Ford as an aging ranch owner.

Filming Across Multiple Continents

The series is filmed on location in natural settings spanning from Montana and Texas in the USA to Africa, where scenes involving the nephew of the main couple, Spencer Dutton (played by Brandon Sklenar), take place. For this reason, among others, the series’ budget is estimated at about $30 million per episode, which is on par with the average budget of a major American film.

This hefty budget hasn’t deterred Paramount+, which has greenlit a second season consisting of an additional eight episodes. This move demonstrates immense confidence in series creator Taylor Sheridan by the streaming service. The American screenwriter mentioned in an interview with Deadline about his Western’s substantial budget:

Paramount is very considerate of storytellers’ needs, or at least mine. They order additional episodes because I need them to complete the story. When you think about a series whose episodes cost between $30 and $35 million to produce and you ask for eight more episodes, it essentially amounts to requesting $240 million.

How can such a budget be justified? First, the series was shot in natural landscapes not only in the United States but also in Africa where part of the story unfolds. The first season’s shooting took place in three different African countries: South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania.

A Portion of the Budget Goes into Taylor Sheridan’s Pocket

Taylor Sheridan has opted to use as few digital special effects as possible. This choice is less about artistic purity and more about business interests, as the animals that appear on screen are owned by the American screenwriter, who owns several ranches.

Therefore, he insists that the production use his own cows and horses and also films on his properties. He also provides horseback riding training for the actors of his series at his ranch in Texas. Consequently, each week of filming translates into hundreds of thousands of dollars for him.

The salaries of the actors also represent a significant portion of the massive budget. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren alone earn a handsome sum of one million dollars each per episode. It’s also likely that stars such as former James Bond Timothy Dalton and Jerome Flynn (from Game of Thrones) are well compensated.

The second season of 1923 can be watched weekly exclusively on Paramount+.

Check out the list of series currently available on the platform!