What is the Most Expensive Movie Ever Made — Top 25 Ranked

Internal memos leaked during the Sony hack revealed the budget for Spectre was originally going to be a lot more. However, the forces that be managed to get it reduced to the mid-200s after rebates. That being said, it's still a "rich-looking" movie where you can tell that most of their formative budget actually did make it on-screen, which is not always the case.

The Fast & Furious franchise has come a long way. The original film, which is a straightforward heist movie, only cost $38 million. By the time it reached the international eighth installment, it had ballooned up to $250 million.

Furious 7 was originally only supposed to cost in the neighborhood of $190 million. However, the unexpected death of star Paul Walker forced the team behind the scenes to use unseen footage and digital effects to complete the movie without him. This forced the budget to skyrocket toward $250 million.

Disney has recently gotten in the business of remaking all of its beloved animated classics into the realm of live-action. However, animation seems downright affordable when looking at the cost of some of these movies, especially Beauty and the Beast, which was produced for $255 million during production in Europe.

Spider-Man 3 is a perfect case study of Hollywood’s need to go bigger with every installment of a franchise. A producer for the film spoke to Rotten Tomatoes about the phenomenon: “We said that to Sony going in so our visual effects budget was probably 30% higher and I think that’s reflected in the number of action sequences, the scale of the sequences and the complexity of course of Sandman. And then the talent obviously made more money in each successive movie which they well deserved. So that’s where the increase in the budget came.”

The Force Awakens was less reliant on CGI than the prequels. As such, it utilized more real sets and props. So why was it over twice the budget? As it turns out, filming in real locations isn’t always necessarily cheaper than using a green screen.

2019’s The Lion King is a good example of how marketing can greatly alter the overall cost of making a film. For instance, the film cost roughly $260 million to make. But reports indicate that with marketing, the true cost of the film was closer to $400 million. At least it more than made up for the cost with a stellar box office run.

It may seem weird that a Disney retelling of Rapunzel would cost so much. However, the high budget can be attributed to the film's combination of hand-drawn animation and CGI. Production also stopped and started repeatedly before the finished product could get underway.

The Last Jedi had one dubious distinction at the box office. It was the first big-budget blockbuster since 2013 to net less than $50 million at the China box office. And even though it has become one of the most divisive entry in the Skywalker legacy, it didn't stop people from seeing it. 

John Carter is an infamous Hollywood cautionary tale. It's one of the biggest bombs in box office history, and it's interesting to consider all of the factors that led to it tanking. Part of this can be attributed to Disney's lackluster efforts to adequately market the film.

The Rise of Skywalker was by no means a flop, but by Disney’s standards for a Star Wars film, it underperformed. Many believe the reason for this to be an over-saturation of Star Wars movies.

With a franchise as big as Star Wars, you're almost guaranteed to see a profit, even after spending almost $300 million.

It may sound off to hear that a spinoff is technically the most expensive Star Wars movie ever made. However, the film had a tumultuous time behind the scenes. It switched directors partway through production and underwent extensive reshoots. 

Prior to the Snyder Cut, Justice League faced many of the same problems behind the scenes as Solo. There was a director change, and the film received numerous reshoots and added scenes. The theatrical cut was lambasted upon release only to get reborn under Snyder's original vision.

At World’s End had all the usual suspects when it comes to big budget tentpole features. There was extensive VFX as well as shooting on location. However, there was also the matter of rising star costs to pay for the likes of Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom to star in the picture.

It was the most ambitious crossover of all time. Signing all of those big-name stars, who at that point had starred in several money-making blockbusters, couldn’t have been cheap. At this point, it was a culmination of all the Marvel movies up to that point, so you know they had to go big or go home.

On Stranger Tides is the most expensive film ever made? "How can that be?" you might ask. First, the movie was shot using expensive 3D cameras. Secondly, many of the scenes were shot at sea, which many major film productions can attest is exceptionally costly. Not only that, the franchise had been red hot since its inception so a huge budget was a calculated risk.