Tony Gilroy drops a bomb while reflecting on his time working with Disney on Andor. The creator reveals the Star Wars series cost a whopping $650 million for two seasons, yet by Season 2, Disney told him, “Streaming is dead” and there is no money.
Despite the massive budget, Gilroy says the shows were made without interference, but the reality behind the scenes shows just how broke Disney+ really is, which we know also includes Marvel.
What did Tony Gilroy say?
Gilroy didn’t hold back. While speaking about the making of Andor, he exposed just how much Disney spent, and how quickly things changed behind the scenes (via IndieWire):
“I mean, [for] Disney this is $650 million,” he said. “For 24 episodes, I never took a note. We said ‘Fuck the Empire’ in the first season, and they said, ‘Can you please not do that?’ … In Season 2, they said, ‘Streaming is dead, we don’t have the money we had before,’ so we fought hard about money, but they never cleaned anything up. That [freedom] comes with responsibilities.”
$4 billion streaming loss for Disney
Gilroy’s comments line up with recent reports about Disney slashing budgets across the board.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed streaming lost the company $4 billion. Iger also said Disney would be pulling back on both Star Wars and Marvel.
What’s happened with Star Wars on Disney+?
The nail in the coffin for Star Wars on Disney+ was The Acolyte. It reportedly cost north of $200 million, which didn’t support the low number of fans that tuned in. The Acolyte was quickly canceled, however, its effects were felt by Skeleton Crew, which didn’t make the Nielsen charts, a first for a Star Wars show on Disney+. As a result of the failure of The Acolyte, reports surfaced that Disney would only be releasing one Star Wars show per year.
Disney+ only has Ahsoka Season 2 currently in the works.
What’s happened with Marvel on Disney+?
It’s the same story for Marvel on Disney+. Kevin Feige’s post-Endgame agenda has been a complete failure. Following wasting billions of dollars on shows nobody watched like The Marvels, She-Hulk, and Secret Invasion, fans tuned out and didn’t tune in for Daredevil: Born Again, which is the first MCU show on Disney+ not to make the Nielsen charts.
Up next from Marvel on Disney+ is Ironheart and Wonder Man, two more shows that look to be big busts. While Daredevil: Born Again was said to be retooled, they didn’t go far enough. Season 2 is looking like more of the same.
Marvel’s Collapse May Hint at Ahsoka’s Future
Per Gilroy’s comments, as part of Iger’s pullback, the budgets have been slashed, which is evident from the Marvel shows that failed, such as Echo, Agatha, and Daredevil.
Gilroy had a lot of pull thanks to who he is and the fact he saved Rogue One. How the cuts impact Ahsoka Season 2 remains to be seen. If it’s anything like how they have affected Marvel, Ahsoka could be in trouble. It’s already been rumored that Season 2 will be its last and that Ahsoka will get canceled.
