Arcane showrunners defend the League of Legends spin-off's reported $250 million budget: "The money is just a reflection of the amount of effort that was put into this"
Nov. 9, 2024“Arcane is a really expensive animated series - which was the point”
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It was recently revealed thatNetflix’sLeague of Legendsspin-off show,Arcane, is the most-expensive animated series ever.It reportedly cost $250 millionfor the 18 episodes
“First of all, the number is not exactly right,” showrunner Christian Linke tells us. “That number does include marketing costs associated with the release, which is not part of the budget of Arcane.” As a general rule of thumb for films, the marketing cost is supposed to be at least 50% of the production cost. If you’ve spent tens or hundreds of millions of dollars on something, you want people to see it.
Linke defends the cost, though, saying “Arcane is a really expensive animated series - which was the point. Our dream was to create an animated series that has the fidelity of what you see in animated movies.”
Fellow showrunner Alex Yee adds Arcane is “the length of several movies.” When you consider the overall length of the project, “If you compare us to animated movies, we are dirt cheap,” explains Linke.
The pair also detail what the money was used for: talent and quality. “You have voice actors, where we really tried to find great talent,” says Lee. “You have artists who we wanted to have time to really be able to put in their touches and to have so many different disciplines in this really be able to do their best and show what they could do. In a lot of ways, the money is just a reflection of the amount of effort that was put into this.”
Production designerJason Schrier also defended the cost of the show, writing “Let this be the example for the standard if you want artistry and quality. Perfection takes time, and it takes resources. Every frame in Arcane is truly a painting, and nuanced at a level I feel our viewership deserves. Using the animation medium to be expressive, and to tell incredible larger than life stories.”
The money and effort seem to have paid off, as ourfour-star review of Arcane’s second seasonshows.
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If you want to watch the show for yourself, it’s been split into three acts, so you should check out ourArcane season 2 release scheduleto see when each new episode drops.
I’m Issy, a freelancer who you’ll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I’ve always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you’ll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I’m currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.
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