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Tom Hardy reportedly loses £2m on BBC drama 'Taboo'

It has been reported that Tom Hardy lost £2 million making his new BBC1 drama ‘Taboo’.

The 39-year-old actor created Taboo Productions Ltd to handle the finances for the eight-part series, which he produced and starred in and which is set in the 19th century.

But accounts show that Tom spent as much as £10.4 million on ‘Taboo’, while its income reached £8.4 million, meaning Tom took a sizeable financial hit on making the show.

A source said: “These new figures will make stark reading for Tom. No matter who you are or how much money you’re worth, £2 million is a lot of money to simply throw away.”

BBC One
BBC One

In the drama, written by Steven Knight, Tom plays adventurer James Delaney, who after being presumed dead abroad, turns up in London and ruffles the feathers of those set to inherit after his rich father’s death.

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The Hollywood star still hopes to recoup more money through DVD and digital sales, while he can also sell the rights abroad.

The source told The Sun newspaper: “Tom will hope to eventually make the money back through DVD sales, downloads, streaming and syndication rights.

(Credit: Robert Viglasky/FX)
(Credit: Robert Viglasky/FX)

As well as being aired in the UK and in the US, ‘Taboo’ has already been sold around the world in the likes of Spain, Portugal and Russia.

It’s believed Tom came up with the idea for ‘Taboo’ along with his dad Edward ‘Chips’ Hardy, and Sir Ridley Scott agreed to act as executive producer of the project after the BBC purchased the rights.

Anders Engstöm and Kristoffer Nyholm directed the first series.

Despite reports, the show is actually among the most-watched on the BBC iPlayer and plans are in place to make a second series.