Disney Spent Over $100 Million to Create ‘Willow’ Then Removed The Show Less Than 6 Months Later
When Disney announced earlier this year that it would begin removing original content from Disney+ and Hulu, fans were concerned that they would no longer have access anywhere to their favorite shows.
These fears proved to be founded when popular series including Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Big Shot, and The World According to Jeff Goldblum were all unceremoniously removed.
Photo: seventeen.com
Of all the shows to disappear however, there was perhaps no more surprising removal than Willow.
A sequel to the popular George Lucas movie of the same name, Willow saw Warwick Davis reprise his role as the eponymous hero alongside Erin Kellyman, Ellie Bamber, and Tony Revolori.
The series premiered on Disney+ in November of 2022, with it season finale landing in January. Just four months later, however, the series was gone.
The Story of ‘Willow’
Disney acquired the rights to Willow as part of their $4 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
With the launch of Disney+, the company was in desperate need of new content. During this time, they approached Ron Howard (who directed the original film) about working on a sequel series for the new steaming platform.
Photo: Lucasfilm/Forbes
Although the new Willow series was well received by critics, audiences gave the revival a more tepid response. The show currently holds an audience rating of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Additionally, according to industry analysts Samba TV, only 481,000 households watched the show in its first five days of release. Surly, this was a disappointing number. Perhaps, it is no surprise then that the show was not renewed for a second season.
Photo: marca.com
What is surprising, however, is the amount of money that Disney spent creating the fantasy series.
Because Willow was filmed in the United Kingdom, the show benefited from the UK’s Television Tax Relief. That law, allows Disney to claim a cash reimbursement for up to 25% of the money that they spend while producing content in the UK. It also gives us insight into the series’ production budget.
Photo: Lucasfilm
Disney Spent $100 Million on the Show
In recently filed financial statements for the 17 months ending on December 21, 2021, Disney revealed that it spend $105.9 million on pre-production and filming of Willow.
That cost does not include the hefty post-production work done by Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic.
After all of the work to continue Willow‘s story, and over $100 million spent, Disney abandoned the show after only six months of streaming.
Taking A Loss
Pulling the show enabled Disney to take an impairment charge. Essentially saying it had spent money on a production that it deemed to be not viable.
This created a loss on the company’s balance sheet, which then reduces its tax bill. In total Disney has reported that its streaming content purge has generated a $1.5 billion impairment charge.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Looking back, the creation of Willow appears to be a relic from a different time. As the country was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney was willing to spend whatever it took to get new subscribers to its flagship streaming service.
Photo: Disney
Now, those days are over. As Wall Street focuses on profitability, and Disney continues to cut costs, you have to wonder if a show like Willow will ever be made again.
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