Like any organization, team, or business, production companies are given budgets for the movies they’re producing. These budgets can cover everything from the actors’ salaries, costumes, set design, digital effects, and more. If the production company does it right, they’ll come in under budget and hopefully make a large profit once the movie hits the box office.
But, unlike those movies who correctly managed their expenditures, these 10 movies came in way over budget. While some made up for it by earning big time in theaters, others actually lost money or broke even. Let’s take a look at 10 movies who were way over budget.
Avengers: Infinity War
There are not many Marvel or DC movies that do poorly these days. They’re always jam-packed with Hollywood’s best actors and filled with explosive effects. For 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, CBR explained that the production of Infinity War cost them $450,000 a day at some points!
When the Russo brothers were asked what made their budget go so over budget, it was apparently due to Robert Downey Jr.’s salary. “The irony is like no matter how much money you have, at some point you run out of money. So, it’s pretty crazy,” Anthony Russo joked.
Tangled
According to Cinema Thread, Disney’s Tangled had a budget of $260 million. The feature film about Rapunzel and her golden locks hit it big with Disney viewers, reaching over $591 million in the box office. With Mandy Moore as the voice of Rapunzel and Zachary Levi as the voice of her love interest Flynn Rider, Disney’s production went way over budget. Tangled would have been fine financially, but the version we saw in theaters was actually Disney’s second attempt at the film, which is why the budget kept being broken.
Cleopatra
The 1963 version of Cleopatra starred the one and only Elizabeth Taylor as the titular role. The film’s plot revolved around Cleopatra and her relationship with Julius Caesar. At the time, the movie turned a lot of heads for its main stars and their issues with production.
For that time in the early 60s, a budget of (in today’s dollars) $340 million was unheard of, especially when they started off with a budget of $2 million. This was mainly in part of Taylor’s outlandish salary and change in directors. What’s even worse is the film only made $57 million in the States.
The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a 2013 western film starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer. Directed by Gore Verbinski, the film’s plot revolves around the Lone Ranger character and Comanche Tonto. The film was produced by Disney and cost around $250 million to make after setting an original budget of $215 million.
However, The Hollywood Reporter claims that Verbinski is known for not sticking to budgets and typically needs to halt filming to find more funding. Once The Lone Ranger reached theaters, it reached around $260.5 million.
Titanic
The 1997 historical love story between Jack and Rose in Titanic is one of the best movies of our time. Everything from the effects to the actors to the music was stunning. Directed by James Cameron and starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio, they spent $200 million on making the iconic film.
Two-hundred million wasn’t their original budget, though, succeeding eight percent more than their original. “It went up a lot more,” Cameron noted. Luckily for him—and all those involved—Titanic went on to make over $2 billion in the box office, which means braking their original budget was totally worth it.
Almost Famous
Almost Famous was the movie that put actress Kate Hudson on the map. After hitting screens in 2000, NYFA noted that the film spent $15 million more than its original budget, costing them $60 million in total. As good as a movie Almost Famous was, it only made a little over $47 million in theaters. It’s been said that a majority of the budget went to music rights, so the film could have iconic tunes in it legally.
Green Lantern
We already mentioned that most DC and Marvel movies bring in the big bucks in theaters, but The Green Lantern was different. Starring Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern himself, critics hated the film and diehard fans ripped it apart.
Directed by Martin Campbell, the production cost went up to $200 million ($9 million more than their original budget), mainly in part to CGI effects. The movie performed well enough in the box office, but reviewers were so bad that a sequel was quickly canceled.
Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the sequel to the original Hunger Games, which thankfully kicked butt in the box office, and it was due to the success of the first movie that allowed the second movie to have a higher budget. According to TheRichest, their budget started out around $80 million, but, by the time filming wrapped up, they were around $140 million. The big increase was mainly in part to the cast getting raises and changing locations.
How Do You Know
It’s shocking that a rom-com could be as over budget as How Do You Know? was. The Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson-led movie was directed by James L. Brooks and released in 2010. The film was about a woman who quickly found her career as a professional softball plater come to an end and she’s inevitably thrown into two possible relationships.
The original budget was $100 million for this movie (thanks to the salaries of Witherspoon, Wilson, Rudd, and Jack Nicolson) but ended up being $120 million. What’s even more disheartening is how poorly this movie did in theaters. It didn’t even break $50 million.
King Kong
In 2005, Peter Jackson directed the long-anticipated movie King Kong. The adventurous film starred Naomi Watts and Jack Black and cost production around $250 million to make. Crazily enough, the original production cost was $150 million, jumping $100 million. The increase in budget was probably in part to CGI and the actors’ salaries, but at least the movie didn’t do too bad in theaters; the film brought in around $550 million.
