The true budget for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been revealed – and it's almost a record-breaking figure.
As reported by Forbes, the "total cost" of the third instalment in the sequel trilogy reached $593 million, a shade behind The Force Awakens and Jurassic World Dominion. Previously, the reported budget was around the $415 million mark.
Those crunched numbers include production costs, reshoots, and other expenses but – remarkably – The Rise of Skywalker still came in under budget. Disney also received over $100 million in reimbursement fees.
The ballooning costs, of course, don't factor in The Rise of Skywalker's troubled history in actually being made. Star Wars Episode 9 was initially set to be the Colin Trevorrow-directed Duel of the Fates, though the director departed the project and The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams was drafted in to cap off the Skywalker Saga. It's only in the past few months that Trevorrow has approached the franchise again.
"My son and I have both decided that we are going to watch all of Andor this summer," Trevorrow told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. "But I do have to be honest; it has been a struggle for me to engage with anything Star Wars-related just on an emotional level. So, to the team that made Andor, I guess I can say that you're the ones who've finally brought me back in.”
Next up in a galaxy far, far away on the big screen in The Mandalorian and Grogu, with Pedro Pascal (and Baby Yoda) returning for more adventures. The first trailer was released in September and teased Jeremy Allen White's Rotta the Hutt, as well as a daring new mission for Din Djarin.
For more, including the latest on the Rey movie, head on over to our guide on upcoming Star Wars movies.
