There are plenty of films that prove it can be done with a virtually non-existent budget. Some of them turn out great, and others, well, gain cult status for their hilarious props and low-budget overall feel. And that’s all well and fine – movies do come in various shapes and forms! However, sometimes we want to look at something so truly gorgeous and breathtaking that we open a list of the most expensive movies ever, make a pick, and enjoy the lavish experience of a big-budget movie. On the other hand, you might just be curious to learn more about the most expensive movies ever made! No matter your motivation for opening this article, though, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for here – iconic movies that cost a pretty penny to make.
Of course, it might not surprise you at all to learn that at the top of this list of the most expensive movies are the likes of Star Wars and Avatar, but you might not have expected to find movies like John Carter or Tangled pretty high up on the list. Turns out, it’s the special effects that eat up a huge chunk of a movie’s budget, not to mention the actors, the sets, and all of the this-and-that that’s required for making a movie. However, I think we can all agree that a film labeled as the most expensive budget movie, or one that comes close to that, is not instantly a good movie or a cinema classic. Yet again, there’s no arguing that they give us a real eyegasm and offer us an escape to a whole new immersive reality, which is also a very, very commendable trait.
So, ready to learn which of the popular movies have made it to our most expensive movies list? If so, scroll down below, check out the submissions, and show your love for the films you like the most by upvoting them! After all that is well and done, share this article with cinephiles around you.
#1 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – $379 Million
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 fantasy swashbuckler film, the fourth installment in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series and a standalone sequel to 2007’s At World’s End. And although critics weren’t in a hurry to give this movie great reviews, it still broke several box office records and became the third highest-grossing film on 2011.
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#2 Star Wars: The Force Awakens – $446 Million
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a 2015 epic space opera film (yup, that’s the official name or the genre!) produced, co-written, and directed by J.J. Abrams. Set after thirty years of 1983’s Return of the Jedi, it is the seventh film in the Skywalker Saga. It’s all about the fight in the Resistance, the search for Luke Skywalker, and tons of awesome special effects.
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#3 Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker – $416 Million
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is a 2019 epic space opera (we can’t get enough of this term!) produced, co-written, and directed by J.J. Abrams. It’s the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, following The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and is also the last episode of the nine-part Skywalker Saga. Here we get to see the Resistance’s final stand against Kylo Ren and, once again, some completely breathtaking special effects that surely ran up the movie’s final cost.
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#4 Avengers: Age Of Ultron – $365 Million
Avengers: Age Of Ultron is a 2015 superhero movie, and we probably don’t have to tell you that it is based on the Marvel comics superhero team called Avengers. It’s the eleventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and although it is pretty rare for a superhero movie to be commended by the critics, this one left everyone happy. So, if you haven’t watched it yet, it sure is time!
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#5 Avengers: Endgame – $356 Million
Avengers: Endgame is a 2019 superhero movie that’s a direct sequel to 2018s Avengers: Infinity War and the 22nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The ensemble cast here is made up of A-listers and megastars – a clear reason for this movie to run up such high production costs!
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#6 Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End – $300 Million
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End is a 2007 fantasy swashbuckler and the third installment in the Pirates Of The Caribbean series. And you know, it has it all – great SFXs, a musical score that’s a real earworm, a catchy story, the usual Depp-esque dose of humor, and mesmerizing action sequels.
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#7 Avatar: The Way Of Water – $350 Million
Avatar: The Way Of Water is a 2022 epic science fiction film and a long-awaited sequel to the 2009s original Avatar. And while the visuals here are just incredible to say the least, critics were a bit disappointed with the lengthy runtime (it’s over three hours long!) and with the story in itself. However, we didn’t mind this fantasy for adults, even the tiniest bit!
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#8 Avengers: Infinity War – $325 Million
Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 superhero movie which is a sequel to the 2012s The Avengers and 2015s Avengers: The Age Of Ultron. Besides the coolest special effects ever, great acting, and a cool story, this film does carry quite a bit of emotional weight, so be aware of that before you watch it.
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#9 Justice League – $300 Million
Justice League is a 2017 superhero movie based on DC Comic’s superhero team of the same name. So yeah, there’s Batman, Aquaman, Superman, Wonder Woman.. and all the rest. So, just because of the sheer number of heroes in this movie, the producers had to pay a pretty penny for all the A-listers hired to portray these bad guys and girls! Not to mention the stellar special effects, that is.
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#10 Star Wars: The Last Jedi – $300 Million
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a 2017 epic space opera (yup, we’ll use the term whenever it’s appropriate) written and directed by Rian Johnson. It’s the second installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the eighth episode in the nine-part Skywalker Saga. The film features a posthumous performance by the legendary Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016, and is dedicated to her.
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#11 John Carter – $264 Million
John Carter is a 2012 science fiction action-adventure film based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 novel A Princess Of Mars. Fun fact – John Carter failed terribly, and the movie’s promotion has been called one of the worst marketing campaigns in movie history. Nevertheless, it is a thoroughly entertaining movie, so if it went under your radar until now, it is time to watch it.
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#12 Solo: A Star Wars Story – $271 Million
Solo: A Star Wars Story is a 2018 space Western film (not an epic space opera, sadly) with a story all around Han Solo. The film explores the adventures of Solo and Chewbacca (an OG power duo), and the events take place ten years prior to those depicted in A New Hope. And despite everyone seeming to agree that all is fine with this movie, it nevertheless became a box-office bomb gathering a measly $393.2 million worldwide.
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#13 Tangled – $260 Million
Tangled is a 2010 3D-computer-animated musical fantasy adventure comedy film (now that’s a real mouthful, isn’t it?) produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The movie retells the story of Rapunzel, and although we all know it, this retelling offers a new and fresh take. Maybe that’s why it became so popular and got so many praises from the critics?
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#14 Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice – $263 Million
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice is a 2016 superhero movie centering around two DC Comics heroes, Batman and Superman. Despite the movie earning its worth over the release weekend, it was deemed highly unsuccessful later on and doomed both by critics and viewers. This proves again that not every expensive movie is a good one!
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#15 The Lion King – $260 Million
The Lion King we’re talking about, in this case, is the 2019s photorealistic remake of the 1994 original animation. So, yeah, you know the story – Simba, Mufasa, Scar, and all the rest. In fact, it follows the original scene-to-scene, and although we’ve all seen it before, it still managed to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. Maybe it’s because Beyonce was in it?
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#16 Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince – $250 Million
Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film by David Yates, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by J.K. Rowling. It’s the sixth installment in the Harry Potter movie series, and it’s the one where Harry founds that mysterious notebook, falls legit in love, and retrieves a crucial memory that holds the key to destroying Lord Voldemort.
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#17 Beauty And The Beast – $255 Million
Beauty And The Beast is a 2017 musical romantic fantasy film retelling the story of the old French fable. The live-action version of the old fairytale stars Emma Watson, and everything she touches turns into commercial gold, and that’s what happened with this movie, too.
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#18 Spider-Man 3 – $258 Million
Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 superhero movie directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. It is the final installment in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and the highest-grossing one at that. And although critics had some nitpicking to do on this movie, we do think that Raimis’ trilogy was overall the best when it comes to Spider-Man incarnations.
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#19 Furious 7 – $250 Million
Furious 7 is a 2015 action film. It’s the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious series and a sequel to 2013s Fast & Furious 6. There are cars, and there are terrorists, hackers, hunky dudes, and precious gals – all that you wouldn’t want from an adrenaline-filled car-chase movie. And even though you might think that after six movies prior to Furious 7 people would’ve had enough of the genre, this movie was a box-office hit through-and-through.
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#20 The Fate Of The Furious – $250 Million
The Fate Of The Furious is a 2017 action film and the eighth installment in the Fast & Furious movie series. It was also the first film not to star Paul Walker following his untimely death in 2013. Again, the movie was a huge commercial success, which proves that action and fast cars might never get old.
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#21 Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – $230 Million
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#22 Titanic – $200 Million
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#23 Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $225 Million
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#24 Avatar – $237 Million
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#25 The Dark Knight Rises – $230 Million
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#26 Men In Black 3 – $215 Million
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#27 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – $200 Million
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#28 Monsters University – $200 Million
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#29 Toy Story 4 – $200 Million
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#30 The Lone Ranger – $225 Million
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#31 The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug – $217 Million
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#32 The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies – $209 Million
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#33 Toy Story 3 – $200 Million
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#34 The Amazing Spider-Man – $200 Million
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#35 Black Panther – $200 Million
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#36 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald – $200 Million
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#37 No Time To Die – $250 Million
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#38 The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian – $225 Million
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#39 Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes – $209 Million
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#40 Terminator Salvation – $200 Million
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#41 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $200 Million
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#42 Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 – $200 Million
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#43 Incredibles 2 – $200 Million
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#44 Mulan – $200 Million
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#45 Wonder Woman 1984 – $200 Million
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#46 Spider-Man: No Way Home – $200 Million
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#47 Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness – $200 Million
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#48 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $250 Million
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#49 Spectre – $245 Million
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#50 Rogue One – $232 Million
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#51 Captain America: Civil War – $230 Million
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#52 Man Of Steel – $225 Million
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#53 The Avengers – $220 Million
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#54 Transformers: The Last Knight – $217 Million
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#55 Oz The Great And Powerful – $215 Million
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#56 Transformers: Age Of Extinction – $210 Million
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#57 King Kong – $207 Million
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#58 X-Men: Days Of Future Past – $205 Million
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#59 Spider-Man 2 – $200 Million
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#60 2012 – $200 Million
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#61 Cars 2 – $200 Million
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#62 Exodus: Gods And Kings – $200 Million
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#63 Dark Phoenix – $200 Million
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#64 Tenet – $200 Million
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#65 Black Widow – $200 Million
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#66 Jungle Cruise – $200 Million
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#67 The Battle At Lake Changjin – $200 Million
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#68 Eternals – $200 Million
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#69 Red Notice – $200 Million
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#70 Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore – $200 Million
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#71 Lightyear – $200 Million
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#72 The Gray Man – $200 Million
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#73 Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania – $200 Million
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#74 Maleficent – $226 Million
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#75 Quantum Of Solace – $200 Million
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#76 Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen – $200 Million
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#77 Hobbs & Shaw – $200 Million
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#78 F9 – $200 Million
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#79 The Tomorrow War – $200 Million
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#80 Thor: Love And Thunder – $250 Million
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#81 X-Men: The Last Stand – $210 Million
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#82 Battleship – $209 Million
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#83 Superman Returns – $204 Million
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#84 Iron Man 3 – $200 Million
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#85 Green Lantern – $200 Million
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