It's no secret that serialized shows get more expensive as time passes by, and spin-offs usually benefit from the same big budgets that the main series gets. So, it wouldn't be that big of a stretch if HBO spends as much on House of the Dragon as it did for the final season of Game of Thrones. However, according to a recent report, House of the Dragon is actually getting a bigger production budget compared to the controversial final six episodes of Game of Thrones.
According to Variety, HBO is spending just "under $20 million" per episode for House of the Dragon's debut season, which comes out on August 21. This would make the spin-off's first season cost HBO more than the original HBO fantasy series by around $5 million for each episode.
$20 million is not a small amount, but it's not as much as you'd expect. A lot has changed in the past three years since Game of Thrones ended in 2019. The influx of streaming money from the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as increased competition, among other factors, have given rise to bigger budgets allotted by studios to their flagship shows.