Apple TV+ Releases First 8 Minutes of ‘Severance' Season 2; $200M Budget

I don’t usually cover TV unless it’s a really notable show, or one that has connections to cinema, and this one surely fits the bill.

In 2022, Ben Stiller absolutely triumphed with his dystopian WTF-Did-I-Just-Watch sci-fi office drama “Severance.” The atmosphere of minimalist world-building was incredibly realized. The reviews the show garnered were flat-out raves, it was one of the best, if not the best, show of 2022.

“Severance” left us with more questions than answers, but one need not worry as the second season is finally, and officially, arriving on January 17, 2025 via Apple TV+ Additionally, almost three years after “Severance” Season 1 premiered, the first eight minutes of Season 2 are now available on the streaming service.

The show follows Mark S. (Scott), an employee of the fictional corporation Lumon Industries who agrees to a "severance" program in which his non-work memories are separated from his work memories. The events that followed were indescribable in nature — asking just how much of ourselves should we actually give in to our work.

The series, created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller, stars Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Jen Tullock, Dichen Lachman, Michael Chernus, John Turturro, Christopher Walken, and Patricia Arquette.

There’s been some reporting on how this second season of the show wildly went over budget. The numbers that have circulated claim that it close $200M to shoot this new season. That’s a lot for a show that mostly takes place in an office building.

Regardless, Stiller has found a new calling as the director of smartly efficient television. 2018’s “Escape to Dannemora” was just a warmup for what he would do next. Stiller also had has a fairly successful career as the director of feature films, his credits include “Reality Bites,” “The Cable Guy,” “Zoolander” and “Tropic Thunder.”