$250 million, 18 episodes and a rave review. On paper, Arcane is a great success for Riot Games. The video game studio has successfully made its move to the small screen, the production inspired by the world of League of Legends quickly established itself as one of the best video game adaptations that has ever seen the light of day. It must be said that the company has given itself the means to succeed and has not skimped on greenbacks. To hatch the first two seasons, no less than 250 million dollars which would have been mobilized. For the visual copy as well as the narration, the entity did not spare any expense. Arcane is the most expensive animated series in history, but has its budget been amortized?
A few days ago, Variety published the details of this investment and questioned the merits of such an approach. After all, the series had to deliver five seasons. It will finally stop after the last episodes of the second. According to VarietyRiot Games would have been caught up in the reality of large-scale productions and held back by its inexperience in the film industry. Marc Merill, co-founder and product director of Riot, shared his thoughts on the discussions surrounding this colossal investment. On Reddit, in a post spotted by IGNhe explains thatArcane was always intended as a two-season series.
Two seasons and not one more
“The confusion comes from the fact that internally there was a budget conversation about approving five seasons, which just meant we were setting aside a lot of money for a lot of development. This has absolutely nothing to do with the creation of Arcane”. He adds, while not confirming the rumor of an envelope of 250 million dollars for two seasons, that the investment ofArcane represents between a third and a quarter of the cost per minute of certain behemoths of the big screen like those of Illumination and Pixar. “The market for quality animation aimed at adults did not exist before Arcane. Hollywood has a hard time understanding why we would do this”. He specifies that the most important investment is in talent compensation.
“The animation of the characters alone accounts for 80% of the budget, because we animate each frame by hand to achieve this quality. Anyone who complains about the high development budget, is really complaining that we pay talent and put art first. Arcane is a great thing for anyone working in animation, as it helps highlight the value of higher budgets”.
More stories to tell
This first foray onto the small screen obviously did not discourage Riot Games. On X, Mark Merrill hinted that other projects could be developed in the future. To the question, why Arcane will only have two bursts of episodes, the creator of the studio simply answers: “Because there are other stories to tell”. It must be said that mythology League of Legends is massive. It now remains to be seen which characters, locations and arcs will benefit from an adaptation and whether Fortiche will still be involved in the creation.
After animation, Riot Games could also want to take the plunge into live action and invest in the big screen. According to certain sources close to the matter, the idea has already crossed the company’s mind and initial discussions have taken place. Variety indeed reported that the Russo brothers were approached in 2020 to direct a film. Nonetheless, the project was reportedly abandoned following creative disagreements, forcing Riot to pay $5 million to the filmmakers’ company AGBO. Neither party wished to comment on the information.
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