Netflix's The Witcher has been one of the streamer's most successful shows in recent years. First airing in 2019, the epic fantasy was one of the first to fill the gaping void left by Game of Thrones.
It was hugely successful, attracting fans of the beloved video games and newcomer alike. But as the seasons have passed, there's been myriad changes both in front and behind the camera. Look no further than the major casting shake-up: going into season 4, our protagonist Geralt of Rivia is now being played by Liam Hemsworth instead of Henry Cavill.
The Witcher season 4 is the most expensive of the series so far
While many viewers have turned away, Netflix is still tossing a great many coins in the direction of The Witcher. Season 4 premieres on October 30, and the show will conclude with season 5 in 2026. What's more, spinoff series The Rats has been re-worked into a feature movie and will premiere later this year.
In terms of money, the franchise has had the biggest cash injection of its history with season 4. As per numbers released by ever-reliable site Redanian Intelligence, The Witcher season 4 had a total budget of $221 million, totalling around $27 million per episode. In addition, spinoff The Rats is working on $20 million, with more cash actively being worked on it. Comparatively, season 3 cost the streamer $175 million, while season 2 set them back $176.3 million. The jump in budget is incredibly substantial.
The Witcher franchise is even more expensive than Stranger Things
Overall, by way of adding up all budgets (although not including anime spinoffs Nightmare of the Wolf and Sirens of the Deep), Netflix has poured in excess of $720 million into The Witcher franchise. This places it right up there with Netflix's most expensive series to produce, even more expensive than Stranger Things, which Collider reported was about $470 million. That could increase when Stranger Things season 5 is factored into the mix.
For perspective, it blows Game of Thrones out the park in terms of cash spent, and it's not even close.
Of course, budgets are largely kept under lock and key by Netflix, so for some things -- like the animated spinoffs -- we simply don't know. That said, taking everything into account, by the time Netflix is done with the franchise, a grand total not too far off a billion dollars could've been spent on content.
All eight episodes of The Witcher season 4 drop on Netflix on Oct. 30, just in time for Halloween.
Moreover, feature-length spinoff The Rats: A Witcher's Tale, which follows a group introduced at the end of season 3, is also eyeing an Oct. 30 release date, but that has not been officially revealed yet.