TV networks are snapping up the rights to fantasy novels in the hope of repeating HBO’s epic success
The Sunday Times,
Who won the Game of Thrones? In May, analysts at Thinkmoney released estimates of the financial value of the show: HBO had spent $1.5bn on it, but taken $3bn from subscriptions alone. An anonymous Hollywood executive who blogs as the Entertainment Strategy Guy estimates the net profit at $2.2bn; series eight earned $88m per episode. By the end of the run, HBO was spending just $2.37 per viewer per series. Its showrunners, David Benioff and DB Weiss, will direct the next Star Wars trilogy; George RR Martin earned $15m a year from HBO and a further $10m from his books.
Which leaves everyone in TV asking one question: how do we get some of that action? There’s clearly no shortage of material: no self-respecting swords-and-sorcery…
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