advertisements, commercials, posters, etc.) and after accounting for tax subsidies. Listed below is the net negative cost: the costs of the actual filming, not including promotional costs (i.e.
This list contains only films already released to the general public and not films that are still in production, post-production or just announced films, as costs can change during the production process. Since then it has become normal for a tent-pole feature from a major film studio to cost over $100 million and an increasing number of films are costing $200 million or more. The 1990s saw two thresholds crossed, with True Lies costing $100 million in 1994 and Titanic costing $200 million in 1997, both directed by James Cameron. Television had an impact on rising costs in the 1950s and early 1960s as cinema competed with it for audiences, culminating in 1963 with Cleopatra despite being the highest earning film of the year, Cleopatra did not earn back its costs on its original release. Costs rose steadily during the silent era with Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) setting a record that lasted well into the sound era. Inflation, filming techniques and external market forces affect the economics of film production.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides officially holds the record, with a budget of $378.5 million, while The Hobbit trilogy stands as the most expensive back-to-back film production, with combined costs of $623 million after tax credits. Ben-Hur (1925) was the most expensive film of the silent era, possibly holding the record for over twenty years.ĭue to the secretive nature of Hollywood accounting, it is not clear which film is the most expensive film ever made.