‘The Last of Us’ vs. ‘The White Lotus’: Which of HBO’s Buzzy Shows Is the Biggest Moneymaker for Max?

In recent weeks, HBO and Max have dominated the Sunday night discourse with their acclaimed series. First, “The White Lotus,” which just concluded its third season, and now, with “The Last of Us,” which returned for its second season right after “The White Lotus” went off the air, and ensures the banner Sundays will continue for weeks to come. But which buzzy series is the biggest earner on streaming?

At the end of 2024, “The Last of Us” just edged out “The White Lotus” in terms of the amount of streaming revenue these series have brought in for Max in the United States and Canada (UCAN).

According to Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics system, since premiering through the end of 2024, “The Last of Us” has made just over $90 million in streaming revenue for the platform, while “The White Lotus,” which premiered in 2021, falls just short of this number. “The Last of Us” matched the streaming revenue of “The White Lotus” with a single season and in only about half the time.

This isn’t to diminish the success of “The White Lotus” at all. Consider the costs of production — Season 1 was reportedly made for less than $4 million an episode and the direct production costs of Season 2 were $36 million. This means that, as of the end of 2024, “The White Lotus” had more than recouped its production costs with streaming revenue earned in the UCAN region alone — revenue earned in other regions is just icing on the cake.

The show’s financial success no doubt makes it easier to justify the increased investment. The costs of the recently concluded season 3 are reportedly in the $6 – 7 million range, and the show has already been renewed for a fourth season (the setting of which is still yet to be announced). The show’s famously egalitarian pay for its actors keeps a ceiling on the amount that any high-profile actors are paid.

The first season of “The Last of Us” reportedly had a budget of over $10 million per episode. So while it brought in revenue for Max at a much faster rate than “The White Lotus,” this came at a substantial up-front investment. With nine episodes in Season 1 this means that the revenue the show has earned for Max in UCAN just about covers the production costs of season 1.   

It’s worth also pointing out that “The White Lotus” achieved this success as an original concept (conceived during the pandemic when thinking about how to film in a bubble under lockdown conditions). “The Last of Us” had the advantage of being based on a critically acclaimed and best-selling video game. We know that basing shows on existing IP increases their chances of success.

While we don’t yet have numbers on how much revenue the latest season of “The White Lotus” brought in for Max, audience demand for the third season was consistently higher than either of the previous two. Ahead of the second season premiere of “The Last of Us” on Sunday, demand was tracking significantly higher than in the lead-up to the first season. Expect the latest seasons of these shows to deliver even more value for the platform.

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