The Grand Tour's Opening Scene Cost A Staggering £2.5 Million To Make
We already know the budget for The Grand Tour - Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s new car show - is massive, with a £160 million kitty reported for the initial 36 episode run. And now, we’ve a good idea of how the production team will manage to burn through such a vast sum: the opening scene alone apparently cost a colossal £2.5 million to produce.
Granted, this is a figure being reported by The Sun - not exactly known as a bastion of accuracy - but it wouldn’t surprise us in the least if The Grand Tour splurged that much. Assuming they have, the opening scene will be the most expensive ever seen on the small screen.
So, what did the £2.5 million go on, other than a few steak dinners post-wrap? According to The Sun’s source, the scene involves the trio driving across California’s Lucerne Valley in three Ford Mustangs - one red, one blue and one white - followed by £20 million worth of cars including a Bugatti Veyron.
Adding to the massive logistical costs of getting the apparently 150-strong fleet of cars to the location were some 2000 fans, acrobats, and six jet planes. Should be suitably bombastic…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
that steak dinner comment though…
This is highly ambitious, and could still be rubbish. (£2.5 million, show is still set in a tent).
That’s 4.06 million in Canadian Currency eh?
It doesnt matter as the cars will be used later on in the show, so the costs are not just for an opening scene but cover some of the cars/costs used in the later part of the series
For anyone who does not want to pay for Amazon prime due to costs or other reasons Ustream.com will have plenty of live streams running the show.