The budget of the first season of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew reportedly will exceed that of the Disney+ hit The Mandalorian.
Announced in May at Star Wars Celebration 2022, the upcoming live-action series follows a group of children trying to find their way home in the wake of the fall of the Galactic Empire in 1983's Return of the Jedi. Skeleton Crew has been described by Lucasfilm as "a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series is expected to spend $136 million during its first season, which began production in late June. By comparison, the debut season of The Mandalorian cost "around $100 million." However, the budgets of both Star Wars series fall short of Marvel Studios' Disney+ lineup: Each episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Hawkeye reportedly cost as much as $25 million, conceivably pushing season budgets into the range of $150 million to $225 million.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew's Budget Is Offset by Tax Credits
That said, Skeleton Crew will receive help in offsetting its sizable budget, in the form of $20.9 million in tax credits awarded last week by the California Film Commission.
Like other Star Wars series on Disney+, from The Mandalorian to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skeleton Crew is expected to utilize StageCraft, developed by Industrial Light & Magic.That technology enables directors and producers to project convincing virtual backgrounds onto enormous LED screens in a sound stage, which lowers production costs and speeds up the process.
Starring Jude Law, Skeleton Crew is using Manhattan Beach Studios in Manhattan Beach, California, for principal photography. The facility's sound stages were also home to The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the upcoming Ahsoka, as well as Marvel's WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, Hawkeye and Moon Knight. Additional filming for Skeleton Crew is scheduled to take place in Culver City, California, and at California State University in Dominguez.
Executive produced by Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, Skeleton Crew is targeted to premiere in 2023 on Disney+, presumably after Ahsoka. Other announced Star Wars projects in the Disney+ pipeline include Andor (premiering Aug. 31), Star Wars: Visions Season 2, Tales of the Jedi, Lando, The Acolyte and Young Jedi Adventures.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter