Game of thrones is a successful show, and has secured the most ratings. Over 10 million US viewers were recorded for each episode in season 7, and that are only the live viewers.
Most people watch them later, and many are in other countries that are not accounted for. And then there are people who download the show over internet from torrents etc.
Do the math, and the result will be huge.
Talking about the budget, initial seasons of Game of Thrones used around $50 million. The budget has gone up to over $100 million for Season 6 and 7. Still they drop out stuff to keep it under budget.
Let’s cut it out short, and find out how much the game of thrones actors actually make.
Show’s main cast has been divided into 2 groups.
The category A has 5 actors, who are being paid the most, and recently negotiated the deal. Combined, they make just over $2.5 million in total. Who are they?
- First is Emilia Clarke who plays Daenerys Targaryen. She is most probably going to be the queen soon. She makes around $500,000 an episode.
- Second in the Category A is Kit Harington who plays Jon Snow. He has been dead once, or may be twice after recently he was drowned into the icy cold lake and remained under it for few minutes. He also makes around $500,000 for each episode.
- Third is Peter Dinklage who plays Tyrion Lannister. In real life his story is quite fascinating. He also makes $500,000 for an episode, and we will be seeing him with the lead roles during the next season as well.
- Forth is Lena Headey, the Cersei Lannister, the current queen. In season 6 she took the power again and now one of the main cast of game of thrones. She also makes around $500,000 an episode.
- Last in the Group A is Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who plays the role of Jamie Lannister. He has been leading the recent wars, and might side with the opposite side in the next season. He is also in the $500,000 an episode group.
Before season 7, they were said to make an average of $300,000 an episode each.
In November 2016, a Hollywood reporter also reported that they each will make $1.1mil each episode for Season 7 and 8, which is now proved untrue.
Second highly paid group is Group B, which consists of many actors. It is still not known who makes into this group, but we know some actors who are in this Group.
- First is Maisie Williams who plays Arya Stark. She is my favorite and many would agree that she should be among the Category A cast. But I think because of her age, she has not been able to negotiate the high payouts.
- Second is her sister Sansa Stark, which is played by Sophie Turner. She is also the consistent cast of the show, and has been recently seen with a powerful role.
- The third known actor in this category B is Natalie Dormer, the Margaery Tyrell. Though, she might never be seen again, she was in this Group while she was part of the show.
It is still not known how much the Group B actors actually make. It is for sure less than $500,000 an episode, but far more than other cast who are in Category C.