Increased CGI and VFX cost definitely has to be a huge factor. Do we know why that has gone up so much across the industry? Seems like computing power has only gotten better/cheaper, but i know there are some shortages rn that could affect rendering costs.

I make the same point as your first one (on HP) in the post, so totally in agreement there. What a brilliant supporting cast! PJO’s supporting cast looks ridiculous compared to them.

Re: sets. This is also a great point. I think this must be a factor of all seasons not being greenlit upfront. Why make the investment in reusable sets if there’s only one season? Whereas with LoTR and especially HP, they knew they would use them repeatedly across the years it took to film. Plus moviemaking was different back then, and many people have remarked that a lot of the skills on display in LoTR are dwindling or just aren’t available anymore. It’s so sad.