Apple TV Plus
"The Morning Show'
- "The Morning Show" executive producer and director Mimi Leder told Business Insider that the reports of the show's extravagant budget were "way overblown."
- It's been widely reported - including by Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety - that the Apple series will cost $300 million for two seasons, or $15 million an episode.
- Leder said this was "absolutely not" the case and that the budget is "in line with a lot of shows you see on high-end television, but it certainly was not as high as what's been reported."
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Mimi Leder, an executive director for Apple's "The Morning Show" who also directed several episodes including the pilot, told Business Insider that reports of the show's extravagant budget are "way overblown."
It's been widely reported - including by Bloomberg, The Hollywood Reporter, and Variety - that "The Morning Show" will cost $300 million for two seasons, or $150 million a season and $15 million an episode.
Leder said this was "absolutely not" the case, though she didn't disclose what exactly the budget was.
"I think [the budget is] very much in line with a lot of shows you see on high-end television, but it certainly was not as high as what's been reported," Leder said.
The reported budget would make "The Morning Show," which debuts on Friday with the launch of Apple TV Plus, one of the most expensive series ever made.
For comparison, the final season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" cost $15 million an episode, or $90 million for the six-episode season, according to Variety. Leder noted that "The Morning Show" did not have as big a budget as "Game of Thrones."
Two of Netflix's most expensive shows, "The Crown" and "Stranger Things," cost $10 million and $8 million per episode, respectively, according to Variety.
The Hollywood Reporter reported that another Apple series premiering on Friday, "See," will cost $240 million for two seasons.