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Avengers: Infinity War Is Second Most-Expensive Film Ever
The reported production budget for Avengers: Infinity War would make it the second most-expensive film ever made, unadjusted for inflation. Modern tentpoles are never cheap endeavors, but even Marvel was going to have to break the bank a bit to cover the costs of their epic crossover event. A massive undertaking that looks to wrap up 10 years of storytelling across 18 films, just the sheer size of the ensemble cast meant the studio was going to be looking at a pricey bill. Fortunately, the MCU is a $14 billion enterprise that’s produced hit after hit, so money is no real object to Marvel.
Unsurprisingly, the franchise’s team-up films rank as their most costly in terms of production budget. Avengers: Age of Ultron came in at $279.8 million, while Captain America: Civil War was made for an even $250 million. Not many films have gone beyond those figures, but Infinity War will be one of them. This isn’t just the most expensive Marvel movie, it is one of the most expensive films of all-time.
In an article in the Wall Street Journal, it’s said the Infinity War production budget is in the range of $300 million. This would tie Justice League and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for the second-highest production budget. Only 2011’s On Stranger Tides cost more at $378.5 million. Since next year’s untitled Avengers 4 was filmed back-to-back with Infinity War, the entire project probably cost even a little more when it’s all said and done.
There’s no denying that’s an eye-popping number, but there are absolutely no concerns about Marvel not making this money back. Infinity War is a legitimate challenger for The Force Awakens’ U.S. opening weekend box office record, and it’s all but assured to become the latest member of the ever-growing $1 billion club worldwide. Even on the off chance Infinity War ends Marvel’s impressive streak of Certified Fresh blockbusters, this film is the textbook definition of critic proof due to the fervent anticipation surrounding it. Fans have waited a decade for Infinity War, and they’re going to show up in full force to support it. Not only that, Earth’s Mightiest should have strong legs commercially, seeing that it won’t have any real competition until Deadpool 2 opens on May 18 – three weeks after Infinity War premieres.
It’s possible the final budget is a little less than $300 million, but that nevertheless appears to be the ballpark we’re looking at. It says a lot about the franchise’s standing that they were comfortable dedicating that many resources for a single movie. The original Avengers (budgeted at $220 million) was a major risk that could have derailed the entire plan if it fell short. But now that the MCU is one of the leading properties in all of Hollywood, there’s a confidence that they can go as big as they need and still come out on top. Besides, this is a special situation. Ant-Man and the Wasp should be considerably more cost-effective by comparison, so the scope of the film will dictate its budget.
KEY RELEASE DATES
Avengers: Infinity War / The Avengers 3 release date: Apr 27, 2018
Ant-Man & The Wasp release date: Jul 6, 2018
The Avengers 4 / Untitled Avengers Movie release date: May 3, 2019
Captain Marvel release date: Mar 8, 2019
Untitled Spider-Man: Homecoming Sequel release date: Jul 5, 2019
