The triumphs and challenges of 2024
The release of the first movie of the new 'Star Wars' film series was a momentous occasion. New stars took the lead, but even still it's reported that US$40 million of the $314 million budget went into paying the old stars: Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill.
The final film in the most recent 'Star Wars' saga cost US$275 million to produce, although it's reported that the production and marketing costs combined could bring that up to US$400 million, making it the most expensive 'Star Wars' movie ever made.
This 'Star Wars' off-shoot had a similarly high budget. It reportedly cost US$275 million to produce, adding up to a total of $400 million with marketing.
The following film also had a high budget, coming in at US$262 million. It's rumored that it was less than the previous movie due to a $54 million tax incentive from the UK.
'John Carter' was supposed to be the beginning of another mega-franchise for Disney, but unfortunately it was a massive flop. The movie cost around US$263.7 million to make, and barely recovered that amount at the box office.
'Avengers: Endgame' was filmed back-to-back with 'Avengers: Infinity War.' That was an expensive year for Marvel Studios! It cost roughly US$350 million. This isn't surprising considering the final battle scene includes more than 30 major actors from the franchise, many of whom are A-list stars.
The budget for 'Justice League' was an enormous US$300 million. Another $150 million was spent on marketing after that. The costs may have been extremely high due to reshoots brought on by a change in director halfway through production.
Most reports say that 'Avengers: Infinity War' cost between US$300 and $400 million to produce. It became the highest-grossing movie of 2018, raking in $2 billion worldwide.
'Tangled' was one of Disney's biggest hits in decades and reportedly took more than six years to produce. Part of its success was due to the team's commitment to giving it the feel of a Disney classic by combining traditional hand-drawn animations with modern CGI. It also took an entire team just to animate Rapunzel's hair! It cost approximately US$260 million.
The third film in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' franchise cost US$300 million to make, and may have been the first movie ever to hit the $300 million budget mark.
The sixth movie in the 'Harry Potter' franchise was more expensive than any of the previous ones, costing US$250 million, but it still didn't make as much as the first movie, which grossed over $978 million.
In 2009, 'Avatar' overtook 'Titanic' as the highest-budget film to date. The impressive graphics and technology required to produce the film left the budget somewhere between US$237 million and $479 million, depending who you ask! They also had to hire linguists to create an entirely new language.
The modern remake of 'The Lion King' in 2019 was a feat of CGI technology, which definitely pushed up the costs. It's reported that the production costs were around US$250 million, but it may have been as much as $400 million including marketing.
Sources: (Insider) (USA Today) (Nerd Wallet)
See also: The most anticipated movies of 2021
The eighth movie in the 'Fast & Furious' series had a star-studded cast including Dwayne Johnson and Charlize Theron. The large-scale stunts pushed the budget, including one scene where they actually dropped several cars from a six-story garage onto a New York street. It cost US$250 million to produce.
The second film in 'The Chronicles of Narnia' series cost approximately US$225 million to produce. Around $100 million was spent on special effects alone! Unfortunately the release was not as successful as they predicted. The CEO of Disney claimed this was because it was released between box-office hits 'Iron Man' and 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.'
'Spectre' was the most expensive James Bond film ever made. It's rumored to have cost around US$245 million to produce, plus an additional $100 million in marketing. Filming locations included Mexico, Austria, Morocco, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
'The Lone Ranger' starring Johnny Depp was a complete flop. The movie is rumored to have cost somewhere between US$225 million and $260 million to produce, and only grossed US$260.5 million worldwide.
In this 2013 blockbuster, Henry Cavill made his debut as the new Superman. The budget was US$225 million and it had the biggest June opening of all time, although its success was later eclipsed by 'Jurassic World.'
The third 'Captain America' movie had the biggest budget to date, partly because it included several of the other 'Avengers' stars. Its US$250 million in production costs is partly attributed to extensive use of special effects. One long expensive shot made Robert Downey Jr. look many years younger!
'Men in Black 3' starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones cost somewhere between US$225 million and $300 million to produce. It's reported that it had a rather hectic shooting schedule and actually started filming without a finished script.
The first movie in 'The Hobbit' series cost US$265 million to produce and was the fifth highest-grossing film in 2012. As most of the movie was shot in New Zealand, the cast and crew took 6,750 domestic flights back and forth. They also had to build 99 different sets!
The epic motion picture 'Cleopatra' was produced back in the 1960s, yet it still had a budget of US$260 million! Costs shot through the roof due to serious health problems experienced by Elizabeth Taylor during filming, and the expensive decision to move the film location to Rome.
The fifth film in the series cost a little less, which is lucky because it was also one of the lowest-grossing movies in the series! It cost approximately US$230 million to make and made $795 million worldwide. Not bad...
The 'Avengers' franchise is another one with an unbelievably high budget. The 2015 film 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' was definitely super expensive, but reports vary from US$250 million all the way to $365 million.
'Spider-Man 3' was the final Spider-Man movie to star Tobey Maguire, and director Sam Raimi went all out for his final contribution to the franchise. On top 'Spider-Man 3' was the final Spider-Man movie to star Tobey Maguire, and director Sam Raimi went all out for his fi of the usual blockbuster production costs and extensive CGI, the marketing campaign was enormous. The movie played on 4,252 screens in the US alone, which was record-breaking at the time. The total budget was US$299 million.
The following movie pushed it even further, costing more than US$400 million to make. Johnny Depp alone was paid $55 million for his role. He even told Vanity Fair that he was overpaid!
The amount of money spent on making movies has grown and grown as the years go by. The accountants of Hollywood are notoriously cagey, but nonetheless we still have a pretty good idea of the budget of most blockbusters! With the rising value of stardom and increasingly high-tech special effects, making a smash hit is more expensive than ever before.
These eye-watering numbers will make you wonder why world hunger is still a thing! Click through this gallery to see 30 of the most expensive films ever made.
30 of the most expensive movies ever made
From 'Titanic' to 'Pirates of the Caribbean'
MOVIES Budget
The amount of money spent on making movies has grown and grown as the years go by. The accountants of Hollywood are notoriously cagey, but nonetheless we still have a pretty good idea of the budget of most blockbusters! With the rising value of stardom and increasingly high-tech special effects, making a smash hit is more expensive than ever before.
These eye-watering numbers will make you wonder why world hunger is still a thing! Click through this gallery to see 30 of the most expensive films ever made.