The news of Titanic's excessive budget had stunned Hollywood during the mid-1990s when James Cameron was producing it. Producing the movie cost $200 million, and millions more were invested in its advertising and promotion. A box office windfall was necessary to prevent Titanic from sinking (pun intended). Imagine a film that costs its producers many times as much and has a $250 million budget just for the cast's wages. The massive scale of the new, costliest film ever produced might rival infrastructure projects.

The priciest movie ever made

Soon, the title of the most costly picture in the world will go to the forthcoming crossover event film Avengers: Doomsday from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The website Collider just revealed that Marvel has already invested $8 million in its pre-production, which is more than three times the amount that was spent on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which ultimately cost $388 million. According to Forbes, the weekly manufacturing expense for Doomsday is twice that of Quantumania, which has caused industry observers to speculate that the film might cost Marvel Studios somewhere between $500 and $600 million. With a production budget of $447 million, Star Wars Episode IX now holds the record for the highest production expenses.

However, these are only the movie's manufacturing expenses. Marketing and publicity will cost millions of dollars more for Marvel. The two Avengers movies, Doomsday and Secret Wars, might cost Disney and Marvel $1 billion apiece, according to various estimations. Prior to the start of Secret Wars production, this makes Avengers: Doomsday the costliest film ever made.

Although the hefty cast contributes to the high cost of Avengers: Doomsday, there is a significant amount of visual effects. The movie will feature up to 35 A-listers in roles of different lengths. According to Variety, the movie's cast salaries alone might exceed $250 million.

Is it possible for Avengers: Doomsday to be a success?

Doomsday would have to be a huge hit at the box office simply to break even if it does, as anticipated, affect the landing cost of $1 billion. The picture would need to make significantly more than $1 billion to break even after accounting for distribution expenses. This indicates that Doomsday might be a box office flop, even if it makes more money than popular movies like Jurassic Park ($912 million) and the Lord of the Rings series (which had an average gross of $987 million for the three films).

Regarding Avengers: Doomsday

Doomsday, which the Russo Brothers will direct, will be the fifth Avengers movie and the 39th overall in the MCU. The movie has an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Alan Cumming, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Tom Hiddleston, Hannah John-Kamen, Winston Duke, David Harbour, Joseph Quinn, Danny Ramirez, Lewis Pullman, Kelsey Grammer, Florence Pugh, Simu Liu, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Wyatt Russell, Paul Rudd, Letitia Wright, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Vanessa Kirby, and Chris Hemsworth.

It will see the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the X-Men band together to take on Doctor Doom (Downey). As a component of Phase Six of the MCU, the movie is scheduled to be released on December 18, 2026.