The credit crunch may be causing some of us to penny pinch, but it seems those sitting comfortably in Director’s chairs just keep on spending. We present the top ten most expensive movies ever made…
10. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), $200m
Splashing the cash on Sci-Fi seems to be a theme of the Top 10, with this year’s Transformers movie coming in at a cost of $200m. The studio execs must have breathed a serious sigh of relief when ticket sales came in at almost $600m and counting… (mostly from teenage boys keen to perv at Megan Fox).
9. Titanic (1997), $200m
When production kicked off in 1995, Titanic became the most expensive film ever made, costing approximately $200 million. But the balance sheets certainly looked healthy after it won 11 Academy Awards and became the highest-grossing film of all time, with worldwide box office takings totalling over $1.8billion.
8. Terminator Salvation (2009), $200m
After splashing out $200m on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003, the big wigs dug deep into their pockets for the latest release. And it was well worth it — in the opening weekend in the UK, action fans secured ticket sales of $11m, upping the gross revenue to $352m worldwide.
7. Quantum of Solace (2008), $200m
Craig’s second outing as Bond may not have seen temperatures rise quite like the first, but the costs certainly went through the roof. However, after earning £50 million in product placement and grossing $1.8billion at the box office, it proved to be the highest earning Bond film to date.
6. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), $200m
This epic fantasy film, based on the second novel in C. S. Lewis’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia,was on a whole new scale to it’s predecessor. Director Andrew Adamson pulled out all the stops with spectacular scenes shot in New Zealand, Prague, Slovenia and Poland cranking the bill up to a cool $200m. But with a gross revenue of $420m, it’s unlikely the accountants were grumbling too much.
5. King Kong (2005), $207m
The iconic ape returned to the silver screen for the first time in nearly 30 years in this 2005 remake of the original 1933 film. With Naomi Watts and Jack Black topping the bill, Universal Studios made a whopping profit with over $500m in gross revenue. There’s one rich gorilla out there somewhere…
4. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), $210m
The third installment of the X-Men series saw Brett Ratner stepping into Bryan Singer’s directorial shoes to guide the mutant misfits. While broadly accepted not to be a cinematic masterpiece, comic book geeks the world over garnered the film a tidy $459m in gross revenue.
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), $225m
The sequel to Disney’s first Pirates of the Caribbean outing saw Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom back at the helm to reprise the roles that made the first movie such a hit. Dead Man’s Chest certainly followed suit, raking in over $1billion at the box office.
2. Spider-Man 3 (2007), $258m
Spider-Man 2 in 2004 spent a measly $200m, but with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst back in the driving seat, Director Sam Raimi demanded some extra dosh for the third Spidey installment. A fair request, as the film grossed nearly $900m.
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), $300m
The final installment in Disney’s Pirates trilogy comes in as the most expensive movie ever made. While it received mixed reviews, an award for ‘Best Movie’ at the People’s Choice Awards and a gross revenue of $1billion stuck two fingers up at the critics.
