Netflix Reveals $568 Million Spending On ‘The Witcher’ As Season 4 Footage Drops

Luke Hemsworth will play the Witcher in Season 4

Netflix

Netflix has revealed that it has spent $568 Million on sword and sorcery series The Witcher making it one of the most expensive television shows of all time.

The gamble has paid off handsomely for the streamer as The Witcher is one of its most successful shows having been viewed for more than 1.2 billion hours. Since it initially launched in December 2019 it has spawned a prequel series and has been renewed repeatedly with a fourth season due to debut next month and production of a fifth currently underway.

Footage from the fourth season aired yesterday and gave fans the first look at Liam Hemsworth in the title role which was previously played by Henry Cavill. Hemsworth plays Geralt of Rivia, a gruff wanderer who roams a medieval-inspired landscape and mutates into the monster-hunting Witcher. The new footage shows him obliterating a wraith, a computer-generated spectre which contributed to the colossal costs of the show.

The cost of making streaming shows in the United States is usually a closely-guarded secret as studios typically combine them in their overall expenses and don’t itemize how much was spent on each one. It is a different story for production companies based in the United Kingdom, like the ones behind every season of The Witcher and its prequel.

That is because U.K. production companies have to file publicly-available financial statements showing everything from the headcount and salaries to the total cost. There is good reason why studios are prepared to put up with this level of transparency.

U.K. production companies benefit from the government’s Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) which gives them a cash reimbursement of up to 25.5% of the money they spend in the country.

In order to qualify for the reimbursement, at least 10% of the core costs of the production need to relate to activities in the U.K. and each season of The Witcher smashed through this threshold for a number of reasons. Not only did London-based visual effects firm Framestore develop the mesmerizing effects but a lot of the filming has taken place in the U.K with season four shot at just outside its capital at Longcross Studios.

Productions must also pass a test which allocates points to factors such as the language of the broadcast, the nationality of key members of the crew and the author of the subject matter. Handily, the terms of the test were compiled before the U.K. left the European Union so productions receive the same number of points regardless of whether Europeans or U.K. citizens made them and wrote the material they are based on.

This played into Netflix’s hands as The Witcher is named after the books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski which were then adapted into a best-selling video game by Polish developer CD Projekt Red in 2007. Its popularity peaked eight years later with the release of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt which sold more than 50 million copies making it one of the most popular games of all time and putting the title on Netflix’s radar.

The Polish origins of The Witcher’s author helped the shows to claim partial reimbursement of their production costs even though they weren’t entirely filmed in the U.K. The first season was primarily shot in Hungary, Spain and Poland with Ogrodzieniec Castle in the south-central Polish Jura region chosen as the location for the Battle of Sodden Hill in season one’s finale.

Likewise, shooting for the third series took place at Predjama Castle in Slovenia as well as the Fusine Lakes in Italy and on Krk island in Croatia.

In contrast, the second season was largely confined to the U.K. as it was shot in 2020 and 2021 when international travel was restricted due to the pandemic. The production spanned 15 U.K. locations and was based at Arborfield Film Studios around 40 miles to the west of London. The former army barracks was transformed into several village sets as well as the exterior of Kaer Morhen, the legendary location where Geralt became a Witcher.

The series was also shot at Bourne Wood in south-east England which was home to the forest battle scenes in Gladiator and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Perhaps the most spectacular setting was the Yorkshire Dales National Park where season two of The Witcher was filmed on a hidden gorge with two waterfalls and dramatic limestone cliffs which are over 100 meters high.

The cost of traveling around the U.K. had a magic touch as a key condition of getting the cash reimbursement is that the production must spend an average of at least $1.4 million (£1 million) per broadcast hour. Every instalment of The Witcher passed this with flying colors.

U.K. production companies usually have code names so that they don’t raise attention with fans when filing for permits to shoot off-site. The Netflix subsidiary behind the first and the third seasons of The Witcher was called Hocus Pocus Productions in a nod to the spells at the heart of the story.

It was founded in 2018 and, as with all U.K. companies, its financial statements are released in stages long after the period they relate to. This starts during pre-production and continues after the premiere to give the production team time to ensure that all the bills are paid. So although the first season debuted in December 2019, the company was still involved with the production throughout the following year. Accordingly, the filings of Hocus Pocus Productions for 2018, 2019 and 2020 relate primarily to season one.

Pre-production on season three began in 2021 ahead of filming the following year and then the release in 2023. So the filings of Hocus Pocus Productions for 2021, 2022 and 2023 relate primarily to season three. A different Netflix subsidiary, called Thetford Productions, was behind the production of season two, which debuted in 2021, whilst another one – Olde Tale Productions – made season four. Finally, Netflix’s Ripper Productions made The Witcher: Blood Origin prequel starring Minnie Driver and Michelle Yeoh which was released in 2022. No expense was spared on any of them.

The chart above shows that the spending peaked on season two which cost $178.9 million (£132.5 million) to make with a $34.9 million (£25.8 million) reimbursement bringing the net outlay down to $144 million. It then got a $12.1 million (£8.9 million) windfall in the form of other income understood to come from the U.K. government to help it through the pandemic.

Season three’s costs were close behind, as they came to $171.8 million (£140.5 million) with net spending of $137 million. Next up is Blood Origin and the first season which cost Netflix $79.4 million (£61.1 million) before other income. It was quite a gamble for a video game adaptation at the time but the cost of subsequent seasons ballooned after the first one quickly cut a path to the top of the charts.

According to the streaming giant, 76 million households watched at least two minutes of The Witcher season one in its first four weeks, surpassing even the mighty Mandalorian on Disney+. In fact, until the release of Bridgerton and Squid Game, The Witcher was Netflix’s most-watched original series launch, with 541 million hours viewed in its first 28 days.

Netflix clearly has high hopes for the fourth season as it is throwing its weight behind it. The latest financial statements only show the year to December 31, 2023 which was four months before filming began, but by then it had already cost Netflix $42.2 million (£33.2 million) – more than half of the entire cost of the first season.

Over 10% of the costs of season four went on staff with total pay across all of The Witcher productions coming to $55.7 million (£43.9 million). Monthly average staff numbers peaked on season three at 313 which doesn’t even include freelancers, contractors and temporary workers as they aren’t listed as employees on the books of U.K. companies despite often representing the majority of the crew.

The filings don’t disclose how much the most prominent member of the cast is being paid and it remains to be seen whether it will be worth it. Hemsworth’s performance in yesterday’s footage didn’t go down well for many fans with one saying “it’s just not the same without Henry Cavill.” Another went as far as to say that it made them feel like they had “just watched a fan film” while a third viewer added that it was “as jarring as I thought it would be…Maybe more.”

Even if The Witcher has lost its magic formula, it isn’t likely to worry Netflix much. This month filming is expected to wrap on the fifth season which will also be the last in the series so no matter how well Hemsworth is received, the curtain is set to come down on his role soon.