Early reports of Marvel’s Infinity War budget, which may still span over two movies, estimate that the company will spend one billion dollars telling the story of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy fighting Thanos. That’s the most money a company has ever spent on a film budget, even if we consider the films are probably split into two $500 million chunks.
The current record holder for a single movie budget is still Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which cost $378.5 million to make. Above that is Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, which cost the studio $745 million in total. Slash Film reports that Marvel’s $1 billion estimate most likely doesn’t involve the sizable tax break the company will get from filming in Atlanta, as Georgia offers a 30% break to local films.
One financial hurdle Marvel set up for itself with Infinity War is meeting the combined talent budgets of the film’s immense cast, which includes heavy hitter Robert Downey Jr. Marvel’s Iron Man was paid $40 million just for his performance in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and his payout for Infinity War is likely comparable. Additionally, Infinity War will undoubtedly take place in space, which means the FX budget for this film is likely to be off the charts.
Infinity War hits theaters May 8, 2018.
