So according to a few different articles, the budget for all ten episodes of Game of Thrones is $45 million. I actually find this to be absurdly low. The same articles say each episode of Camelot (which I would rate just a notch above Pillars of the Earth in terms of quality) is costing $7 million. The pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire alone cost $18 million and the The Pacific series together cost a staggering $217 million plus $10 million for promotion.

I find it difficult to believe that all ten hours of what looks to be a very good series with high production values was shot for what Hollywood would consider a "low budget" film. I can't believe that (fairly) well known actors such as Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, and Lena Hedley would work for what must be scale. Actually if these reports are true and HBO is getting such an incredible deal on this series I think that is a good thing as they are much more likely to greenlight additional seasons.