World's most expensive film costs $1 billion, paid $250M in cast fees; may flop even if it out-earns Jurassic Park, LOTR

Hindustan Times

2 days ago

When James Cameron was making Titanic in the mid-1990s, reports of its extravagant budget had taken Hollywood by surprise. The film cost $200 million to make, and millions more were spent on its publicity and marketing. It took a windfall at the box office to ensure that Titanic did not sink (pun intended). So, imagine a film that is costing its makers several times more, and has a $250-million budget for cast salaries alone. The new most expensive film ever made is a gargantuan project that may put infrastructural undertakings to shame.
Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) upcoming crossover event film Avengers: Doomsday will soon have the title of the world's most expensive film. Collider recently reported that Marvel has spent $8 million on its pre-production alone, more than thrice what was spent on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which eventually cost $388 million. Forbes also reported that the per-week production cost of Doomsday is twice as much as Quantumania, which has led to experts predicting that the film could cost Marvel Studios anything between $500-600 million. This is much higher than the production cost of Star Wars Episode IX, which currently holds the record with a production cost of $447 million.
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But these are just the film's production costs. Marvel will spend millions of dollars more on marketing and publicity. Various reports have estimated that the two Avengers films—Doomsday and Secret Wars—could cost Disney and Marvel $1 billion each. Until Secret Wars begins production, this makes Avengers: Doomsday the most expensive movie ever.
The cost of Avengers: Doomsday includes a heady dose of VFX, but is ballooned by its exorbitant cast. As many as 35 A-listers are to appear in the film in roles of varying lengths. Variety reported that cast salaries alone can cross $250 million for the film.
If Doomsday does touch the landing cost of $1 billion as predicted, it needs to be a massive success at the box office just to be profitable. After including the distribution costs, the film would need to earn substantially more than $1 billion to break even. This means even if Doomsday earns more than blockbusters like Jurassic Park ($912 million) and the Lord of the Rings films (average gross of $987 million for the three films), it may end up being a box office failure.
Directed by the Russo Brothers, Doomsday will be the fifth Avengers film and the 39th film in the MCU overall. The film features an ensemble cast including Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, Kelsey Grammer, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Joseph Quinn, David Harbour, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal, and Robert Downey Jr.
It will feature the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the X-Men team up to face Doctor Doom (Downey). The film is slated for release on December 18, 2026, as part of Phase Six of the MCU.