Netflix spending $16m an episode on original series The Get Down

And the project has yet to wrap

Hip hop drama The Get Down premieres on Netflix on 12 August (Netflix)

Netflix always planned for The Get Down to cost a phenomenal amount of money; Baz Luhrmann’s musical drama about the birth of hip-hop in the South Bronx was budgeted at $10 million per episode, a total of $120 million for the 12-part series.

However, production costs on the series are said to have ballooned substantially, with the streaming service thought to be paying $16 million per episode.

Deadline is reporting how the cost expanded due to visual effects, music rights, exclusivity rights, and a string of filming shutdowns. According to the report, the project has yet to wrap.

Adding insult to injury is that The Get Down has not been the runaway hit Netflix expected: Symphony Advanced Media’s chart for viewings among 18- to 49-year-olds shows that Stranger Things is far more popular, ranking at number three in comparison to The Get Down at 14.

However, despite not ranking well with Netflix’s typical user-base, the streaming giant’s interest in The Get Down is not to draw in already-subscribed viewers. An insider told the aforementioned publication that the Jaden Smith-starring show is the number one show among African Americans and Hispanics and is building among a young demographic, drawing in demos other Netflix shows don’t.

The company’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos addressed the situation at Netflix’s quarterly earnings call, saying: “Yes, it’s an expensive piece of television. Mostly because it’s very large-scale, cinematic. The reason why Baz Luhrmann’s films work around the world is that kind of attractiveness. We’re still seeing how it’s going to unfold for the first season.

“All the shows land at a different level of noise in the press and probably depending on what circles you run in, whether or not your friends are talking about it. We’re very excited about how the show has been performing, particularly in a quarter where we had four shows that turned out to be kind of big event programs for us.”

Meanwhile, Netflix has also been in trouble with Relativity Media, being sued by the production company behind Pineapple Express for various reasons.