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Here’s how much it costs HBO to produce one episode of ‘Game of Thrones’

Last seasons costs were up some US$6 million from earlier episodes

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Jon Snow in "Game of Thrones". Photo: HBO
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By Emmie Martin

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is one of the most popular shows on television. The recent season seven premiere garnered over 30 million viewers in the U.S. alone.

But all of those epic battle scenes don’t come cheap.

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Throughout the show’s sixth season, a single “Game of Thrones” episode cost around US$10 million to produce, according to an exclusive feature in the April 2016 print edition of Entertainment Weekly, as pointed out by Business Insider’s Kim Renfro.

That marks a budget increase of around US$4 million per episode, up from the approximate US$6 million earlier episodes cost, according to E! News.

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Photo: HBO
Photo: HBO

Prior to season six, the most expensive “Game of Thrones” episode ever produced was season two’s penultimate instalment, “Blackwater,” which featured an extensive battle scene and larger-than-life props, including a full-sized replica of a 14th century battleship. The episode cost HBO US$8 million to produce — and showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff had to push for the last $2 million.

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