When the budget is big, there are more things at stake. Whereas a lot of directors can make it work with a few million, some usually operate at around $200 million. It raises the question of what the most expensive movies of all time are. TechTrends put together a list of the biggest budget movies.
Although some movies use a shoestring budget and become a huge success, some movies use massive budgets and still make big-time profits. However, with more money on the table, more is at stake. With the proper budget, filmmakers can bring any scenario to life. Some of the most expensive movies of all time may cost more than some films can ever hope to earn at the box office. The investments work sometimes, and other times they do not. The significant expenses usually are used for operating film sets and designing special effects, props, and costumes. Moreover, there are cast’s salary, as well as technical crew, producers’. There is a list of the most expensive movies of all time down below, including their (adjusted for inflation) budgets.
Most Expensive Movies of All Time
Gross profits are often made from those that cost a lot, so Disney has caught most of the list with its costliest movies. TechTrends have compiled a list of the most expensive movies ever made.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
- Avengers: Endgame (2019)
- Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
- Titanic (1997)
- Spider-Man 3 (2007)
- Justice League (2017)
- Tangled (2010)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- John Carter (2012)
- Waterworld (1995)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
- Avatar (2009)
- Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
- The Force Awakens (2015)
- The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
- The Last Jedi (2017)
- King Kong (2005)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The most expensive movie, either adjusted for inflation or not, is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is the fourth in the series. This movie cost $378.5 million for production, which is $430 million adjusted for inflation. You should know that there is no other movie that costs more than $400 million. In addition, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley do not make an appearance, and Penelope Cruz is Johnny Depp’s costar, with Keith Richards also featuring. Perhaps that is where all the money went. Regardless of all that, the movie went on to make more than $1 billion worldwide, which covered the money spent.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
The second one of the most expensive movies of all time is Avengers: Age of Ultron, with the production taking almost $365 million. This is known as Marvel Studios’ most expensive movie, with the plot of the movie revolving around the Marvel Comics superhero team called the Avengers. The viewers and critics showed the movie thumps up, with the gross collection of the movie being around $1.4 billion worldwide, putting it among the top five highest-grossing films of all time.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
The third movie on the list of the most expensive movies of all time is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The making of the movie cost about $300 million. The performance, direction, and special effects used are favored by the fans. However, many hit out at the plot and long duration of the movie, which was 168 minutes. The collection was shy of a billion dollars at $963 million.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
One of the most expensive movies of all time, yet again from Marvel Studios, is Avengers: Endgame. The production of the most cost $356 million, and it was Infinity War’s sequel, with many people keen on figuring out how it went between the Avengers and Thanos. It was quite a success as it made a whopping $2.8 billion worldwide in 11 days. It has become the second highest-grossing movie ever, with the first one being Avatar (2009).
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
The next one on our list of the most expensive film productions in the world is Avengers: Infinity Wars. $316 million is how much was spent in the production of this third Avenger movie. Many famous actors like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, and many others feature in the movie. These top actors gathered together for this epic movie, with the realistic fight scenes costing a lot of money. The movie made more than $2 billion.
Titanic (1997)
The sixth most expensive movie which left all critics speechless was Titanic. Critics wrote it off when the movie, which cost more than $200 million, was released, saying that it would go down the drain just like the sinking Titanic. However, James Cameron, the director, writer, and co-producer shut everybody up as his movie was the highest-grossing movie ever for more than ten years. It grabbed 11 Oscars as well as 14 Academy Award nominations, winning 11 under the following categories: Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, and more.
Even the song “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion became so successful. The movie James Cameron and the team spent paid off unimaginably.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spider-Man 3 was yet another one of the most expensive movies of all time, costing about $258 million. The movie is based on the Marvel Comics character named Spider-Man. Moreover, the movie made more than 894.9 million dollars worldwide.
Despite the huge success of the first two movies of the Spider-Man series, the third one was a little low in quality and reception, according to some critics.
Justice League (2017)
With a budget of $300 million, the Justice League is another of the most expensive movies of all time. It is based on the DC Comics superhero team named “The Justice League”. Many know the plight of “Justice League”, which includes an unshavable mustache. Moreover, Joss Whedon had to replace Snyder, who was forced to leave because of a personal tragedy.
Tangled (2010)
One of the most expensive movies of all time is an animated film named Tangled. If you are interested in this genre, you can check our article on the Best Animations of All Time on TechTrends. Although these types of movies hardly cost this much, Tangled’s production took about $260 million. A great amount of money went into procuring the animated film right since filmmakers wanted something that looked richer.
The movie was a success eventually, making 592.4 million dollars worldwide. Walt Disney Animation Studios produced the movie, and it was released by Walt Disney Pictures.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
You know that the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) is an adaptation of the novel “Harry Potter” written by J. K. Rowling in 2005. The movie’s budget was $250 million, which put it on the most expensive movies of all time list. It was a great success as it made around $934.5 million, a little shy of $1b dollars.
The movie won a lot of awards, such as the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, SFX awards, MTV movie awards, and was nominated under other categories.
John Carter (2012)
The next one of the most expensive movies of all time is Taylor Kitsch, with a budget of $263.7 million, but it grossed only $284.1 million at the box office.
This science-fiction movie was directed by Andrew Stanton, and since the movie was not financially successful, they forewent their plans for a sequel.
Waterworld (1995)
The movie Waterworld came out in 1995 and is on the list of the most expensive movies ever made. The budget of the movie was $172 million, and its gross collection was $264 million.
The producers had a break-even deal despite the general perception being a total fiasco. Kevin Reynolds, the famous director, was behind Waterworld and universal pictures distributed it based on the screenplay of Rader in 1986.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)
Yet another one of the highest budget movies of all time on the list is from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Dead Man’s Chest from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise took almost $225 million in production. It grossed about $1.06 billion worldwide and is a sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl from 2003. Dead Man’s Chest, which was in theaters in 2006, was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski. The direction and special effects were appreciated a lot.
Avatar (2009)
When Avatar was first released in 2009, it was considered weird by skeptics, with the budget being as high as $237 Million. Many did not believe in Avatar, but the 3-D return made the movie a success.
Moreover, its success silenced the critics as the movie grossed 2.84 billion, making it the highest-grossing movie ever (not adjusted for inflation). The idea behind the movie was unique, and the sequel will come out by the end of 2022.
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
The next one on the list of the movies with the biggest budgets in the world is Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The budget of the movie was around $263 million. Moreover, the story follows DC Comics characters, Batman and Superman. Ben Affleck played the role of Batman, and director Zack Snyder helmed the movie. The gross collection of the movie was more than $870 million across the world, shy of billion dollars as they planned a lot of sequels.
Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
From a commercial perspective, Solo may be the house Star Wars Franchise’s biggest flop. However, it still made it to the list of the most expensive film productions in the world. The budget of this 2018 movie was $275 million, and it grossed only $393 million around the globe. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed Solo. Moreover, the Star Wars character Han Solo was given more center stage by the many directors of the movie.
The Force Awakens (Star Wars 2015)
The first movie in the Star Wars trilogy was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which became one of the world’s highest budget movies of all time. The budget was around $259 million, and the cast members were not A-rated stars. However, the risk paid off since the movie made 2.06 billion dollars.
The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The next one on the list is the sequel of The Last Jedi movie, named Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The budget considered for this final movie of the Star Wars series was $275 million. However, it was a disappointment when it came to the box office despite the billion-dollar gross, just like the other two.
One of the reasons behind the disappointment can be the collections, which were less compared to the other two movies in the trilogy.
The Last Jedi (2017)
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is another one of the movies with the biggest budgets in the world. For the production of the movie, there was a budget of $262 million considered. Moreover, it made more than 1.33 billion worldwide.
It is considered the most divisive movie in the series of Star Wars and got 37 various nominations for awards and grabbed eight of them under the best film and best director category by Empire awards back in 2018.
King Kong (2005)
If you think Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” or a “Hobbit” are the most expensive movies he made, you are wrong, as the remake of the King Kong was it.
The budget considered for the movie was $207 million. The gross collection reached $562.3 million worldwide despite it not being an iconic movie like the original one.