Films with a $200+ million budget: What should the expectations be?

[Ajendo]

I expect something where the story, characters, action and effects all are top notch.

Problem is in hollywood you have dumb people controlling stupid amounts of money to pump into a film. Spiderman 3 was horrible yet they pumped money into that more then a gas station. Whenever i see big budget movies that suck i always invision the cast having lobster tails for lunch and limo rides to the set everyday. Where did all the money go?

To be fair sm3 did make close to $900million.

 

[Supernova]

To be fair sm3 did make close to $900million.

this is true but the effects and script sucked massive. I know tobey demanded a high salary but Ive seen smaller budgeted films blow this out of the water.

 

[DA_Champion]

The hell??

Google it, Jon Peters made 15 million approximately.

Probably more than Zack Snyder.

 

[metaphysician]

Its usually best to ignore the marketing budget. Production budget is spent on actual dollars paid for goods and services ( cast, crew, equipment, facilities, SFX, etc ). Marketing budget is where most of the 'creative accounting' happens, including a whole lot of paper transactions in which IP usage promises are bartered with no actual money changing hands. Between that and the inevitable tax breaks every movie pursues, your best focusing on just the production budget.

 

[Lord]

A 200 million dollars film is usually expected to make around 500 or 600 million on the very least. I honestly think that the studios should work better on their scripts, it just seems like they're limiting themselves way too much by thinking what's going to happen in their planned sequels, instead of giving the best product they can.

Some of these scripts even take months to be completed, yet they sometimes start filming without it being complete, i mean, they actually took some 3 years before starting to shoot Pirates of the Caribbean 4, yet, they still give a rushed and mediocre script instead of fleshing everything out, are these writers keeping the best ideas for themselves?

The Studios and more successful actors like Adam Sandler also seem to be taking way too much advantage from the Cinema and giving sub-par products in order to fill their pockets.

 

[Teelie]

I think in some instances, particularly franchises with tie-ins, you have to account that it might not make double or triple the money on the film alone but those tie-ins, particularly super hero ones (Spider-Man especially seems to be on everything) they can recoup a large cost of producing a movie.

Movies where you aren't tie-ing in with merchandise will of course have to make back the money directly from the theater, DVD/Blu-Ray, VOD and streaming services to justify their cost.

Too many of those movies don't seem to show $200 million though.

 

[Tequilla]

A film with a 200million budget i expect two things. That it looks good and that it makes sense visually. Strangely enough, we are in an era were 100 and 200 million movies are technical aberrations. This happen because they put behind the camera people who have no notion about telling a story visually.

 

[Marvin]

Depends a lot also how much you spent on marketing. Amazing Spider-Man 2, for example, had a budget of at least $200 million. But they spent just as much, or more, on marketing. I've heard the total cost of the movie was $400-450 million. In this case it needs to make perhaps around $800 million just to break even.

Has sony put out it's figures yet? I still don't get how spidey needs 800 to break even in everyone's minds. Yet a film like DOFP, has a far different stigma. With the same estimated budget. I'm hearing people suggest edge of tmr is 'almost there world wide'. I just don't get what the major difference here when all the films cost about the same(reportedly). 800 to break even...

I personally expect a film to make over 100more than it's budget domestically. If it cost 200, it should make around 300 dom. That's just personal expectations.

 

[Teelie]

Marketing makes a big difference. The more invested in selling the movie the more needed to profit. It's one reason some otherwise good movies fail to find an audience and some awful ones get an audience.

 

[Rock Sexton]

I personally expect a film to make over 100more than it's budget domestically. If it cost 200, it should make around 300 dom. That's just personal expectations.

Mine too.

 

[Lord]

X-men didn't spend as much in marketing as Spider-Man did from what i heard, so Spider-Man really needs to make a lot.

 

[Marvin]

X-men didn't spend as much in marketing as Spider-Man did from what i heard, so Spider-Man really needs to make a lot.

It's a great deal more...to break even at that.

The thing about this marketing figure is that it's never been at all confirmed. Neither has the budget. Not by the studio anyways. It's like the only film this summer that has suffered from this. Are people basing this on the sheer amount of spidey marketing that was out? Cause there's been just as much for all these other early summer films by the looks of it...

 

[Teelie]

Studios are notorious for fudging the numbers to make a movie's profits or failures look how they will serve them best. If they do well on a movie but want to get a tax break or something they will figure up the numbers to say it didn't do so well and if a movie performs poorly and they want to promote it as better than it was they figure them up a different way.

 

[Rock Sexton]

Studios are notorious for fudging the numbers to make a movie's profits or failures look how they will serve them best. If they do well on a movie but want to get a tax break or something they will figure up the numbers to say it didn't do so well and if a movie performs poorly and they want to promote it as better than it was they figure them up a different way.

Source?

 

[Teelie]

So, so many to choose from. Wikipedia is a good starting point.

According to Lucasfilm, Return of the Jedi despite having earned $475 million at the box-office against a budget of $32.5 million, "has never gone into profit".[17]

 

[Wildcard]

In terms of marketing & profit, I was always under the belief that studios primarily want to make the budget back while the movie is in theaters & recoup marketing costs through DVD sales.

 

[weezerspider]

There's really no need for films to be this expensive. Simple as that.

 

[Lord]

I actually have to aplaud Michael Bay regarding budgets, he's able to make films that look great with less than 200 million, TF 4 is even coming with a budget of only some 160 million

 

[Rock Sexton]

I actually have to aplaud Michael Bay regarding budgets, he's able to make films that look great with less than 200 million, TF 4 is even coming with a budget of only some 160 million

I haven't been a fan of the franchise since the first movie. The TF's have gotten harder to look at and the trailer's I've seen so far it's just more of the same for me.

 

[weezerspider]

I actually have to aplaud Michael Bay regarding budgets, he's able to make films that look great with less than 200 million, TF 4 is even coming with a budget of only some 160 million

I strongly dislike his films and I don't think the guy has an artistic bone in his body, but he knows how to execute the business side of film-making. He makes big budget films without bloating the budget and he makes the production company good profits. I can't argue he deserves every thing in his career...I just wish his films were good.

 

[Lord]

I haven't been a fan of the franchise since the first movie. The TF's have gotten harder to look at and the trailer's I've seen so far it's just more of the same for me.

I'm not talking about th quality of his films, they're pretty bad most of the times, though i did find the city battle in TF 3 entertaining, what i'm saying is that the guy does know how to make an expensive film without blowing the budget out of proportions. When it comes to special effects, these films usually shine, and he does it with smaller money than most. Lone Ranger for example had a great cinematography and looked good, but it didn't need to spend so much money at all, it actually cost more than any TF movie.

I strongly dislike his films and I don't think the guy has an artistic bone in his body, but he knows how to execute the business side of film-making. He makes big budget films without bloating the budget and he makes the production company good profits. I can't argue he deserves every thing in his career...I just wish his films were good.

Exactly. If anything, i think that Bay should work as a kind of technical advisor or something where he only gets to organize the special effects, when it comes to telling a story he's not very good. It also makes me a little unconfortable thinking how all those model looking women were cast, i believe Mr.Bay's a common practioner of the casting couch.

 

[Wildcard]

I actually have to aplaud Michael Bay regarding budgets, he's able to make films that look great with less than 200 million, TF 4 is even coming with a budget of only some 160 million

Agreed. Regarding the business side of things, I think certain companies could stand to learn a thing from him.

Hell, every Jurassic Park movie (thus far) has been made for less than even $100 million. I think it's less of a case of these big movies actually needing these immense budgets & more of a thing where studios somehow still believe pouring money into a project guarantees that it'll be a hit rather than hiring strong creative forces.

And of course some actors have huge pay rates that also take the budget up to an enormous amount.