The 30 Most Expensive Movies Ever Made
Hollywood has always loved a big swing, but the price of a blockbuster has climbed to levels that would have seemed impossible a generation ago. Today a handful of films have cost more than half a billion dollars to make, before a single dollar was spent on posters, trailers or TV ads.
Studios rarely publish their real budgets. Many of the most reliable figures now come from the company accounts filed in the UK, where most of these films were shot to claim a government rebate. Those filings often show costs far higher than the numbers studios gave out at release.
The figures below cover production only (cast, crew, sets, effects and post-production), not marketing. Where UK filings exist, the list uses the total reported cost and notes the net figure after the rebate where it was reported. For other films it uses budgets reported by trade outlets such as Variety, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter.
The numbers are not adjusted for inflation, and estimates for some films vary by tens of millions of dollars. Even so, the ranking shows clearly where the money goes: franchise sequels, effects-heavy epics and productions hit by reshoots, director changes and pandemic delays.
1. Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Universal’s third Jurassic World film is now the most expensive movie on record. A 2026 Fortune analysis of the production company’s UK filings put its total cost at $658.8 million, before a UK rebate of about $128 million brought Universal’s net outlay to roughly $531 million. That is far above the budget figures that circulated when the film opened.
Colin Trevorrow directed, and the film reunited Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. Much of the cost came from timing: filming began in the UK in early 2020, was shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic within weeks, and restarted that summer as one of the first major Hollywood shoots to return, under strict and expensive safety rules. Scenes were also filmed in Malta. Dominion earned about $1 billion worldwide.
2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
For years, the film that relaunched Star Wars held the record. The same 2026 Fortune analysis put the cost of The Force Awakens at $638.9 million, based on the accounts of Lucasfilm’s UK production company. Disney had bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for about $4 billion and handed J.J. Abrams the job of bringing back Luke, Leia and Han Solo.
Abrams leaned on real sets, practical creatures and location shooting in Abu Dhabi, Iceland and on Ireland’s Skellig Michael, with most of the filming at Pinewood Studios near London. Production paused in 2014 after Harrison Ford broke his leg when a door on the Millennium Falcon set came down on him. The spending paid off: the film earned about $2.07 billion worldwide and is still the highest-grossing film ever at the North American box office.
3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
The second Jurassic World film cost far more than anyone realized at the time. Fortune’s 2026 review of Universal’s UK filings put its total cost at $606.3 million, while the budget widely reported at release was under $200 million. The gap shows how little the official numbers can reveal.
Spanish director J.A. Bayona took over from Colin Trevorrow, who stayed on as co-writer. The story moves from a volcanic eruption on Isla Nublar to a gothic chase through a mansion, a shift that called for big effects scenes plus large sets built in the UK, with location work in Hawaii. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard returned, and Jeff Goldblum came back for a short appearance as Ian Malcolm. The film earned about $1.31 billion worldwide.
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
UK filings reported by Forbes put the cost of the final Skywalker film at about $593.7 million before a UK rebate of roughly $104 million, leaving a net cost near $490 million. J.J. Abrams returned to direct after Colin Trevorrow, the original choice, left the project in 2017.
The production had a hard problem to solve: Carrie Fisher died in December 2016, so Leia’s scenes were built from unused footage shot for The Force Awakens. A huge cast, many creatures and long space battles kept costs high, with filming at Pinewood Studios and in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan. The film closed the nine-part saga with about $1.08 billion worldwide, the lowest total of the sequel trilogy, and a cooler response from critics than the two before it.
5. Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Budget figures that circulated at release put the third Deadpool film at around $200 million. UK filings told a different story: Forbes reported in 2026 that its total cost had reached $556.8 million, with about $110.7 million in UK tax credits bringing Disney’s net spending to roughly $446 million.
Directed by Shawn Levy, the film paired Ryan Reynolds with Hugh Jackman, who returned as Wolverine for the first time since 2017’s Logan. It was Deadpool’s first outing under Marvel Studios after Disney bought 20th Century Fox. Filming at Pinewood Studios in the UK was halted for months by the 2023 actors’ strike, which added to the bill. Audiences did not mind: the film earned about $1.34 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever.
6. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
Harrison Ford’s final turn as Indiana Jones came with a final bill to match. UK filings reported by Forbes showed about $387 million spent by early 2023, and later reports on the same accounts put the total near $419 million before tax credits. James Mangold directed, taking over from Steven Spielberg, who stayed on as a producer.
The money went into location work in Sicily, Morocco and Scotland, plus a long opening flashback in which digital de-aging made Ford look decades younger. The shoot was also slowed by COVID-19 rules and by a shoulder injury Ford suffered while rehearsing a fight scene in 2021. Despite its scale, the film earned only about $384 million worldwide and is widely reported to have lost Disney money. It premiered at Cannes in May 2023, and John Williams, composer of every Indiana Jones film, earned an Oscar nomination for its music.
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
The fourth Pirates film set a record that stood for years. UK filings analyzed by Forbes showed a production cost of $410.6 million, which a UK rebate of about $31 million brought down to roughly $379 million. Rob Marshall replaced Gore Verbinski as director, and Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane joined Johnny Depp, then one of the best-paid stars in Hollywood.
The film was shot in 3D with heavy camera rigs, on location in Hawaii and Puerto Rico and on stages at Pinewood Studios in England. Big sequences with mermaids, sword fights and the Fountain of Youth pushed effects spending higher. The gamble worked: On Stranger Tides earned about $1.05 billion worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2011. Geoffrey Rush returned as Barbossa, Keith Richards made a brief return as Jack’s father, and the story borrowed ideas from Tim Powers’ 1987 novel On Stranger Tides.
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
The second Avengers film is reported to have cost about $365 million after UK tax credits. Joss Whedon returned to write and direct, juggling the original team plus newcomers Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision.
Costs came from the size of the cast, a fully digital villain in Ultron (voiced and motion-captured by James Spader) and long action scenes, including the floating city of Sokovia. Filming stretched from Shepperton Studios near London to Seoul, Italy’s Aosta Valley and Johannesburg. The film earned about $1.4 billion worldwide, a huge hit, if a step down from the first Avengers film’s $1.5 billion. Paul Bettany, who had voiced J.A.R.V.I.S. since the first Iron Man, appeared on screen for the first time as Vision, while Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson played the Maximoff twins. Released on May 1, 2015, it opened to about $191 million in North America, then the second-biggest opening ever.
9. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Deadline reported a net cost of about $356 million for Avengers: Endgame, though the true figure is hard to separate from Infinity War, since directors Anthony and Joe Russo shot the two films back to back, mainly at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Georgia. Endgame was the payoff for 22 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Its budget went into an enormous cast, a time-travel story that revisited scenes from earlier films, and a final battle that put nearly every hero on screen at once. The production was famously secretive, and most actors never saw a full script. All that spending produced about $2.8 billion worldwide. Endgame passed Avatar as the highest-grossing film of all time in July 2019, until Avatar took the top spot back with a 2021 re-release in China.
10. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
James Cameron’s sequel arrived 13 years after Avatar, and its cost reflects that. Variety reported a budget of $350 million or more, while Deadline put it closer to $460 million. Cameron developed new equipment for underwater performance capture, so actors could play scenes while holding their breath in a huge tank at his studio in Manhattan Beach, California.
The film was made alongside the next Avatar sequel, so some costs were shared, and Wētā FX in New Zealand spent years on its ocean scenes. Before release, Cameron said it would need to rank among the highest-grossing films in history just to break even. It did: The Way of Water earned about $2.32 billion worldwide, the third-highest total of all time. It also won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, just as the first Avatar had in 2010.
11. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Marvel’s multiverse sequel cost roughly $350 million, according to UK filings. Scott Derrickson, who directed the first film, left over creative differences, and Sam Raimi returned to superhero movies for the first time since Spider-Man 3.
The road to theaters was rough. The pandemic disrupted plans in 2020, the shoot moved to the UK, and extensive reshoots followed in late 2021, pushing the release back to May 2022. Elaborate effects sequences, including a fight waged with musical notes and a dizzying fall through many alternate universes, added more cost. Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen led the cast, and the film earned about $955 million worldwide. Xochitl Gomez joined as the dimension-hopping America Chavez, and Danny Elfman, who scored Raimi’s first two Spider-Man films, wrote the music. It opened to about $187 million in North America, the biggest opening of 2022.
12. Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)
The third Avatar film reportedly cost $350 million to $400 million, according to Variety. Much of it was made together with The Way of Water, as James Cameron filmed the performance capture for both sequels in one long stretch before finishing them separately.
Fire and Ash brings the Sully family into conflict with the Ash People, a fierce Na’vi clan from Pandora’s volcanic regions led by Varang, played by Oona Chaplin. Its budget covers years of effects work by Wētā FX, new creatures and landscapes, and the same high-frame-rate 3D presentation as the second film. Disney’s 20th Century Studios released it on December 19, 2025, three years after The Way of Water. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang returned, and Disney has dated two more sequels for December 2029 and December 2031.
13. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
Rian Johnson’s middle chapter of the sequel trilogy cost well over $300 million, with UK filings putting its net cost at about $343 million. Johnson wrote and directed, picking up the story on the remote island where Rey finds Luke Skywalker.
The production returned to Skellig Michael and the Irish coast, shot the casino city of Canto Bight in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and used Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni salt flat for scenes of the planet Crait. Large sets at Pinewood Studios, puppet creatures such as the Porgs and big space battles completed the bill. It was the last film Carrie Fisher completed before her death in 2016. The Last Jedi earned about $1.33 billion worldwide, though fans remain split on it. Mark Hamill returned as Luke in his first major Star Wars role since Return of the Jedi in 1983, and the film earned four Oscar nominations.
14. Fast X (2023)
The tenth main Fast & Furious film reportedly cost about $340 million, according to TheWrap, up from about $200 million for F9. Part of the jump came early: director Justin Lin left about a week into filming in 2022, and Louis Leterrier was brought in to take over a production already in motion.
Fast X shot in Rome, Turin, Lisbon and London, among other places, with a large cast of returning stars led by Vin Diesel, plus newcomers Jason Momoa and Brie Larson. Its signature set piece sends a giant bomb rolling down the streets of Rome. The film earned more than $700 million worldwide, a solid number that still looked thin next to its cost. It opened to about $67 million in North America and ended on a cliffhanger, planned as the first chapter of the series’ final story.
15. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)
The third Ant-Man film was the most expensive of the series by far: UK filings put its cost at about $330 million. Peyton Reed returned to direct Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, with Jonathan Majors introduced as the time-traveling conqueror Kang.
Nearly the whole story takes place in the Quantum Realm, a strange world built almost entirely with visual effects. It was filmed at Pinewood Studios in England on an LED-wall stage like the one made famous by The Mandalorian, then filled with digital creatures and landscapes in post-production. The film opened Marvel’s Phase Five in February 2023 but earned only about $476 million worldwide, and critics singled out its murky, effects-heavy look. It opened to about $106 million in North America, a record for the series, then fell about 70 percent in its second weekend.
16. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Shot back to back with Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War is often estimated at $325 million to $400 million on its own. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo filmed both movies in one long production in 2017 and 2018, mainly at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Georgia, with location work in Scotland.
The film gathered more than two dozen heroes from ten years of Marvel movies against Josh Brolin’s Thanos, a motion-captured digital character who needed some of the most demanding effects work in the franchise. Battles in Wakanda, on the planet Titan and in the streets of Edinburgh filled out the bill. Infinity War earned about $2.05 billion worldwide, making it the first superhero film to pass $2 billion. Its opening weekend of about $258 million in North America was a record at the time.
17. The Electric State (2025)
Netflix spent about $320 million on The Electric State, according to Deadline, making it one of the most expensive films ever made for streaming. Anthony and Joe Russo directed the adaptation of Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 illustrated novel about a teenage girl crossing a robot-filled America in an alternate 1990s.
Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt starred, with Stanley Tucci and Giancarlo Esposito on screen and Woody Harrelson and Anthony Mackie among the robot voices. Most of the cost went into its many robot characters, created with digital effects, plus a long shoot in the Atlanta area. Netflix released it on March 14, 2025, with no box office to win the money back, and critics gave it poor reviews. The screenplay came from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who also wrote Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame for the Russos.
18. The Marvels (2023)
UK filings put the cost of The Marvels at around $300 million, a lot for a film that became the lowest-grossing entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nia DaCosta directed the sequel to Captain Marvel, which teamed Brie Larson with Teyonah Parris and Iman Vellani from the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.
The film was shot mostly in the UK in 2022 and needed months of extra work, including reshoots and effects-heavy space scenes built around heroes who swap places whenever they use their powers. Its release date moved several times before it landed in November 2023, when the actors’ strike kept the stars from promoting it. The Marvels earned about $206 million worldwide, putting it among the biggest box office bombs in Hollywood history. At about 105 minutes, it is also the shortest film in the MCU.
19. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
The third Pirates film was the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release, with a budget widely reported at about $300 million. Gore Verbinski shot it back to back with Dead Man’s Chest, filming both sequels in one long, costly run in the Caribbean and California.
The finale is a sea battle inside a giant whirlpool, much of it filmed with full-size ships on a huge indoor stage, and Industrial Light & Magic created Davy Jones and his crew digitally. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley returned, with Chow Yun-fat and Keith Richards joining the cast. At World’s End earned about $961 million worldwide, more than any other film released in 2007. At about 169 minutes, it is the longest film in the series, and it earned Oscar nominations for visual effects and makeup.
20. Justice League (2017)
Warner Bros.’ superhero team-up cost about $300 million, and its troubles made it one of Hollywood’s most talked-about productions. Zack Snyder stepped away during post-production after a family tragedy, and Joss Whedon oversaw extensive reshoots to finish the film.
The reshoots created a famous problem: Henry Cavill had grown a mustache for Mission: Impossible – Fallout and was not allowed to shave it, so it had to be removed digitally. The film earned about $657 million worldwide, below expectations for a team of DC’s biggest heroes. Warner Bros. later spent roughly $70 million more to let Snyder finish his own version, released on HBO Max in 2021. It also brought in Ezra Miller as the Flash, Jason Momoa as Aquaman and Ray Fisher as Cyborg, and its opening weekend of about $94 million was the lowest yet for DC’s shared film universe.
21. Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
UK filings put the cost of the Han Solo prequel at about $300 million, very high for a spin-off. The main reason was a change in the middle of production: Lucasfilm fired directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in June 2017, with filming well along, and brought in Ron Howard, who reshot much of the movie.
Alden Ehrenreich played young Han, with Donald Glover as Lando, plus Emilia Clarke and Woody Harrelson. The film was shot at Pinewood Studios and on location in the Italian Dolomites and the Canary Islands. Released barely five months after The Last Jedi, Solo earned about $393 million worldwide and became the first Star Wars film widely reported to have lost money. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and its Memorial Day weekend opening of about $103 million over four days fell well short of forecasts.
22. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025)
Tom Cruise’s eighth Mission: Impossible film is reported to have cost at least $300 million, with some estimates reaching $400 million. Christopher McQuarrie directed, and the film was first announced as Dead Reckoning Part Two before it was retitled.
Production was delayed by the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes, and filming stretched over years in the UK and South Africa, among other places. Its biggest sequences include a long underwater scene inside a sunken submarine and Cruise clinging to a vintage biplane in flight, stunts that took months of preparation. The Final Reckoning earned close to $600 million worldwide, a big total that still had to cover one of the largest budgets ever spent on an action film. It premiered at Cannes in May 2025, and its Memorial Day opening of about $79 million over four days was a record for the series.
23. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
The seventh Mission: Impossible was reported to cost about $291 million. It was one of the first major films stopped by COVID-19: Paramount halted filming in Venice in February 2020, and later shutdowns and safety measures added millions more.
Christopher McQuarrie’s film sent Tom Cruise from desert scenes to Rome, Venice and a runaway Orient Express train. Its centerpiece was Cruise riding a motorcycle off a cliff in Norway and parachuting away, a stunt he prepared for with hundreds of skydives and thousands of motocross jumps. The film earned about $570 million worldwide, a disappointing return for its cost, partly because it opened a week before Barbie and Oppenheimer. Hayley Atwell joined the series as the thief Grace, and Esai Morales played the villain Gabriel. The film had first been set for July 2021 before pandemic delays pushed it back several times.
24. Snow White (2025)
Disney’s live-action Snow White cost about $270 million after UK rebates, according to filings reported by Forbes. Marc Webb directed Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
The production was long and costly. Filming at Pinewood Studios in 2022 was followed by extra shooting, and the release moved from March 2024 to March 2025. The film also needed expensive effects work, including computer-animated versions of the seven dwarfs. Snow White earned only about $205 million worldwide, making it one of Disney’s costliest misses. Andrew Burnap played Jonathan, a new character who leads a band of outlaws, and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the songwriters behind The Greatest Showman, wrote new songs to sit alongside music from the 1937 animated film. It opened on March 21, 2025, with about $42 million in North America, well below early forecasts.
25. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
The first Star Wars spin-off cost about $270 million, according to UK filings. Gareth Edwards directed the story of the rebels who stole the Death Star plans, with Felicity Jones and Diego Luna in the lead roles, and Tony Gilroy was later brought in to rewrite parts of the film and oversee major reshoots.
The production traveled widely: Wadi Rum in Jordan, Iceland, and Laamu Atoll in the Maldives for the beach planet Scarif, along with sets at Pinewood Studios. Its effects included digital recreations of Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin and a young Princess Leia, which drew wide attention. The film earned about $1.06 billion worldwide. Michael Giacchino wrote the score in about four weeks after Alexandre Desplat left the project. Released in December 2016, it opened to about $155 million in North America and earned Oscar nominations for visual effects and sound mixing.
26. John Carter (2012)
Disney’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars is reported to have cost about $264 million. It was the first live-action film from Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and WALL-E, with Taylor Kitsch as a Civil War veteran transported to Mars.
The money went into elaborate digital creatures, including the four-armed Tharks, filming in the Utah desert and on stages in London, and costly reshoots. John Carter earned about $284 million worldwide, and Disney took a write-down of about $200 million on it, making it one of the most famous flops in Hollywood history. Lynn Collins played the Martian princess Dejah Thoris, and Willem Dafoe performed the Thark leader Tars Tarkas through motion capture. Burroughs had first published the story as a magazine serial in 1912, and it went on to influence later science fiction, including Star Wars.
27. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Zack Snyder’s showdown between Batman and Superman was widely reported to cost about $250 million, with California’s FilmL.A. study putting the figure near $263 million. Ben Affleck debuted as Batman opposite Henry Cavill’s Superman, and Gal Gadot made her first appearance as Wonder Woman.
The film was shot mostly in and around Detroit, Michigan, with large sets for Gotham and Metropolis and heavy effects for its final battle against Doomsday. It also set up DC’s shared film universe, introducing several future Justice League members. Batman v Superman earned about $874 million worldwide, a solid total, though weak reviews and a steep drop after its opening weekend left Warner Bros. wanting more. Jesse Eisenberg played Lex Luthor. The film opened to about $166 million in North America, a record for March at the time, before falling about 69 percent in its second weekend.
28. Tangled (2010)
Disney’s take on Rapunzel is widely reported to have cost about $260 million, making it the most expensive animated film ever made. Much of the expense came from its long development: animator Glen Keane started work on a Rapunzel film years earlier, and the project changed shape several times before Byron Howard and Nathan Greno took over as directors.
Disney’s 50th animated feature also needed new techniques to make computer animation look like a hand-painted classic and to animate Rapunzel’s 70 feet of hair. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi voiced the leads, and Alan Menken wrote the songs, including the Oscar-nominated “I See the Light.” Tangled earned about $592 million worldwide. Donna Murphy voiced Mother Gothel. Disney changed the title from Rapunzel to Tangled in 2010, months before release, a move widely reported as an effort to draw boys as well as girls.
29. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Sam Raimi’s third Spider-Man film was reported to cost about $258 million, one of the biggest budgets ever at the time. Tobey Maguire returned as Peter Parker, joined by Topher Grace as Venom and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman.
The Sandman effects alone took years of development, and the film packed in three villains, a black-suit storyline and big action scenes across New York. Spider-Man 3 earned about $895 million worldwide, the highest total of Raimi’s trilogy, though many critics and fans felt it tried to do too much at once. Kirsten Dunst returned as Mary Jane, James Franco came back as Harry Osborn, and Bryce Dallas Howard played Gwen Stacy. It opened on May 4, 2007, with about $151 million in North America, a record at the time. Plans for a fourth Raimi film were dropped, and Sony rebooted the series with The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012.
30. Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Disney’s live-action remake of its 1991 classic cost about $255 million, according to reports based on its UK filings. Bill Condon directed Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast, a role he played on stilts in a motion-capture suit, with his face captured in separate sessions.
The film was shot at Shepperton Studios near London, where crews built detailed sets for the village and the castle, and it needed elaborate costumes and digital versions of the castle’s enchanted objects. Alan Menken returned to write new songs with Tim Rice. The spending paid off: Beauty and the Beast earned about $1.26 billion worldwide, one of the biggest hits of 2017. It opened to about $175 million in North America in March 2017, a record for a March release, and earned Oscar nominations for production design and costume design.
Why Movie Budgets Keep Climbing
Most films on this list share three traits: they are sequels or remakes of proven hits, they lean heavily on visual effects, and many were filmed in the UK, where a government rebate returns roughly a quarter of qualifying spending. That rebate is also why their real costs became public, since the UK production companies behind them must file yearly accounts.
Delays have become another big driver. Pandemic shutdowns, the 2023 strikes, director changes and reshoots added tens of millions of dollars to several films here, which helps explain why the top of the list is now filled with movies released since 2015.
