We all know movies are expensive affairs—they have always been so, but with audiences expecting more and more spectacular visual effects and polished sequences these days, studios are investing some serious money into each of their blockbuster projects. Sometimes the investment pays off, sometimes it doesn’t, but what’s certain is that some titles have a production budget that other movies can only dream to earn at the box office.
Is being expensive a synonym for being good, though? That’s definitely up for debate and everyone can form their opinion on the issue (I personally think it isn’t if you were wondering. Maybe a list of the ten most expensive movies ever made can help (it did in confirming that a movie being expensive doesn’t guarantee anything). It isn’t always easy to get our hands on the official budget numbers, but the ones that are available confirm trends that were probably easy to guess—budgets started steadily increasing in the 2000s and haven’t stopped since, especially when it comes to some particular genres.
So let’s cut to the chase and take a look at the ten most expensive English-language movies ever made, adjusted for inflation—are they good as well as expensive, or just spectacular in their mind-boggling price tags?
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, 2011
The fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga, directed by Rob Marshall and produced by Disney, officially holds the title of the most expensive movie ever with a cool $378.5 million dollar budget—which comes out at $435 million when adjusted for inflation. While the general consensus around the Pirates movie after the “original” trilogy isn’t that great, On Stranger Tides definitely made back its production costs with a box office of a little more than $1 billion. Yes, “billion” with a “b”—like most of the movies on this list.
Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015
A list of most expensive productions definitely had to feature some MCU titles—with all the high-paced action scenes and out-of-this-world visual effects, those movies definitely don’t come cheap. The second Avengers team-up, directed by Joss Whedon, had a budget of $365 million dollars ($399 with inflation) and had no issues making good on that investment—the final box office nets at around $1.4 billion. It is, however, considered the least-beloved of the Avengers movies when you start surveying fans.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, 2007
Another movie of the Pirates saga (and the second-best of the whole bunch, no I won’t take constructive criticism on this), At World’s End was directed by Gore Verbinski, whose vision is behind the whole first trilogy. Disney’s budget for what was at the time the final chapter of a beloved and very popular saga was $300 million dollars, more or less $374 million when adjusted. As one can expect, the box office return did not disappoint, and At World’s End brought home almost $961 million dollars in revenue.
Avengers: Endgame, 2019
The Russos’ final chapter of the Infinity War arc (and of more than ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe), Avengers: Endgame had a budget of around $356 million dollars, which become $360 when adjusted for inflation. As the current second-highest grossing movie in the history of cinema, it’s not hard to guess that Endgame made back all of its budget—its box office revenue is one of the only five breaking the $2 billion dollars threshold, stopping just shy of $2.7 billion. Reviews and reactions were generally positive.
Avengers: Infinity War, 2018
Shot back-to-back with Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War follows pretty much the same scheme (or maybe it’s Endgame that traces the steps of Infinity War since the latter was released a year before). Its budget was $325 million dollars, or $335 when adjusted for inflation—and Infinity War is another one of those five movies making more than $2 billion dollars at the box office, netting a little more than $2 billion.
Titanic, 1997
James Cameron’s classic romance and disaster movie is the only one on this list produced before the year 2000—Titanic cost $200 million dollars back in 1997, which would be $322 million dollars today. When it was released, Titanic was an immediate success with audiences all around the world (it still is, actually), so it’s no surprise that it sits in the third spot of the highest-grossing movies of all time with its box office revenue of almost $2.2 billion dollars (which means that James Cameron holds two of out three spots on the podium, with Titanic in bronze medal position and Avatar as the still undefeated champion).
Spider-Man 3, 2007
The final chapter of the first-ever iteration of Spider-Man to hit the big screen, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 cost $258 million dollars to produce in 2007, which would mean around $322 million dollars today. The second-to-last apparition of Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker (thank you always No Way Home for fulfilling all my dreams) netted almost $895 million dollars at the box office, making it a very successful end to the franchise.
Justice League, 2017
Directed by Zack Snyder, Justice League was the first complete team-up of the DC Expanded Universe and its budget was around $300 million dollars, which would be $317 when adjusted for inflation. While not as successful as the MCU movies on this list, Justice League made back its initial investment and then some with a final box office of almost $658 million dollars.
Tangled, 2010
Disney’s Tangled makes sure there’s at least one animated movie and one musical featured on this list. Its production costs were around $260 million dollars, or $309 with inflation (must have been all those software for the animation of Rapunzel’s hair), and its box office revenue was just shy of $593 million dollars—making Tangled the highest-grossing movie of its year.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009
The Harry Potter saga arrives to round up this list with its sixth installment, Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates (as were all Harry Potter movies starting from Order of the Phoenix). Its $250 million dollars budget ($302 when adjusted for inflation) was easily made back at the box office, where Half-Blood Prince netted almost $935 million dollars.
What do you think of the movies on this list? Did they seem worth their enormous cost to you, or come up short, quality-wise?
(via MentalFloss, images: Disney)
