What went wrong with Jupiter's Legacy: Netflix wanted to pay less for an expensive superhero show, but ended up spending more money anyway

The Hollywood Reporter

Original showrunner Steven DeKnight asked for a budget of $12 million per episode on the now-canceled superhero series, but Netflix would only agree to $9 million per episode, reports The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit. "It wasn’t long into shooting that the show found itself overbudget and running behind, with DeKnight, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, according to people who have worked with him, clashing with Netflix over 'creative differences,'" says Kit. "The production was shut down about halfway through its eight-episode shoot; DeKnight was replaced by Sang Kyu Kim, who then had to retool the first batch of episodes. Issues didn’t stop there, however, as even after wrapping production, the show spent an inordinate amount of 2020 in postproduction. Louis Leterrier, the filmmaker behind Netflix’s acclaimed Dark Crystal and Lupin series, was brought in at the eleventh hour as a consultant, according to sources, but the move was too late to save the troubled show. With episode spends now reaching above even what DeKnight originally asked for, show insiders say he was proven right in some respects." One producer in the comic book realm says of Netflix's Jupiter's Legacy problems: "Marvel shows are $15 million to $20 million per episode. If you’re going to make a big superhero show, you need at least that much.” While a Netflix insider pegged the cost of Jupiter's Legacy's eight-episode run at $130 million, Kit reports that Netflix likely spent close to $200 million.