Most of the Hollywood films nowadays are way overbudget. Marvel started this trend and everyone else followed it only to end up losing money including Marvel itself. I recently loved Challengers and the film was very good! But my jaw nearly dropped when I saw that the production budget was 55 million dollars...Almost all the tennis court scenes used a CGI tennis ball and that was the only CGI work. Other than that, I can't wrap my head around why the budget is so high. The film was a box office success but still I think they could've profited a lot more with lesser budget. Or I'd like to see a breakdown into why it might've cost so much if anyone can explain it.
@someguy42093 Lol are you talking about Challengers? No. It didn't tank. It has grossed more than 140 million dollars so far. It was both a critical & financial success. I just can't wrap my head around the budget.
The majority probably went to Zendaya. King Richard was another movie that had a huge budget for what it was, the main reason it was so high was because two thirds of it went to Will Smith. If he had cut his salary significantly they could have made it for $10-15 million. Instead it cost $40 million
It used to be the case that budgets went overboard because they were dealing with either new, expensive tech (Star Wars, Titanic), the shoot was complex (Titanic, Jaws) or because the size of the production was so vast and epic (Titanic, Heaven's Gate, Cleopatra, etc.). But nowadays (re: blockbusters), it seems more because of poor planning than anything else. We can get CGI to be very good, but it will look bad if the people working on it don't have a clear vision of how the movie is going to end and keep changing their minds, which necessities getting rid of already finished work and starting over. For Challengers, it could be any number of things. If Covid protocols were still in place during production, that could've added more. Zendaya probably commands quite a hefty fee herself, as would Luca Guadagnino, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross. There's only one good budget breakdown I've been able to find of a movie budget, and that's for M. Night Shyamalan's The VIllage: nofilmschool.com/the-village-movie-budget
I would say that Apocalypse Now has a greater history of production excesses than does Titanic. I think Titanic definitely spent more money over the budget but I've heard about the Apocalypse Now shooting stories for a very long time. Some of the Apocalypse Now stories aren't just about going over budget though but also about going over the time limits that had been put on the movie.😊
Lol that last bit is why I didn't include it in this particular video. Apocalypse Now was such a difficult production, that I think it should mostly go in a video about productions where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The most surprising thing about Apocalypse Now is the fact that Coppola got it over the finish line and managed to retain (most) of his sanity.
@@SyntopikonAnd yet, many keep coming back to work with him, so clearly some in the industry enjoy the challenge as much as he does. Even Kate Winslet eventually worked with him again which no one would’ve ever expected to see.
And movies keep on having bigger and bigger budgets which makes less profit for the studio and a higher chance of flopping. The 200m budget has started to become the new normal for movies and movies are starting to become over 300m (the electric state, f1 movie, mission impossible 8, gladiator 2 to name a few that will come out within the next 18 months). Also big budget movies are starting to flop and flop more as we saw that in 2023 with 13 movies with a 200m+ budget out of the 14 that flop and which there is many reasons why they all flop and one of them is quality, which most of them didn't have a lot quality unlike the movie the creator with 80m dollar budget that looks likes a very expensive movie which had good quality, but not amazing quality. Unfortunately it bombed, but it did show that movie studios that can have their budget cut down by a lot and being more of a profit gain, but most of these movie studios aren't gonna learn or take awhile to learn, but we do see that dream works animation is cutting down their budgets making their profits higher even through animation movies usually do decent or good, but at least someone is learning. So far this year, some big budget movies have flopped but there have been more successful ones, but i see the second half having more flops than the first half but still have more successful ones. Next year will be interesting, since many big budget movies come out next year and i see a lot of them flopping so 2025 could be another 2023. As the major movie studios look for the next big thing, the smaller ones or independent ones will start becoming more successful with their originals unlike major ones that have originals flopping and relying on IP instead. It will be very interesting the next shift will be like.
Glad you liked it! Empire Strikes Back also had quite the production. I think part of ESB also got delayed because of a fire on Kubrick movie. Then, they had to share space.
Yup. It's notable that most of them are, in some way, epics as well. Jaws might be the iffiest to call an "epic", but it owes a lot to Moby Dick - which is most certainly an epic.
Titanic: did an irate crewmate feed the entire crew crystal meth? I remember as a kid hearing that they all got the flu. Years later, I heard the real story, and that cameron worked through the high
Lol you're not far off - it was PCP, and they laced the clam chowder when filming in Nova Scotia for the modern day scenes. They all went to the hospital and I think Cameron said that the cinematographer at the time, Caleb Deschanel (who was later replaced) tried to attack him. I think Cameron said that Bill Paxton was the most relaxed through it all.
I’ve watched both The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate. They’re both significantly dull. The cinematography on both is gorgeous. But the films themselves are incredibly boring and slow. If I was a producer I might, at a stretch, have green lit another Cimino film with a mid budget after the success of TDH but I for sure would never have given him a blank cheque. He was an accomplished indie director (at best), he was never ever going to be an epic film director. It would be like giving Judd Apatow or Kevin Smith $300m to film whatever their version of ‘manifest destiny’ was
Part of it was that the late 60s through the 70s were a different time, and studios were willing to take a bit more creative risk. But to your point re: green lightning a mid budget Cimino film - I think that's exactly what they should've done. The studios issue - and the directors as well - was that they overextended the budgets way past what was necessary. If a $10 million dollar film is pretty much done and needs another $2 million to finish with effects, that's fine. But if a $11 million film goes past $22 million, then $33 million? Well, then you've got an issue on your hands. I'm sure studios already build in some slack (i.e. movie gets a production budget of $50 million but internally, they're okay with it going to $60 million or something), but they need to hold the line on that: this much and no more. With Cimino, it seemed like artistic intent fueled by ego. No theater would carry a five-and-a-half hour film, and he should've known that. If he had stuck to his contract, he might've had a brighter future.
@@Syntopikon I tried to watch it two or three years ago but it is mine numbingly slow. A million beautiful shots for sure but a meandering story that lacks cohesiveness.
Here's an actual breakdown of Cameron's budget busters: The Abyss $70 million. Terminator 2 $110 million True Lies $120 million Titanic $200 million Avatar $400 million (approx) with R&D
Avatar 1’s budget was more like $240m. It was A2 & A3, which were shot back to back, that got into that $400m territory. They probably figure it’ll be somewhat amortized over the course of the series since most of the core preproduction and R&D is already done.
I think film critics hit it hard because it was a remake of Wages of Fear, a French film that was beloved. It brought out the inner snob in a lot of them, as they unfairly decided that liking the remake meant that you weren't "chic" enough for the French version
@@Syntopikon Cimino was far from the only issue with HEAVEN'S GATE, but so many bad movies have lost so much more money since, its dollar loss seems somehow smaller these days. hard to believe but yep, its that bad now.
Ummmmm James we gave you $100 million to make this movie. Cameron:uh huh So just a $100 million budget James. We’re not giving anymore. Cameron: uh huh Ok James but we mean it. Not 1 penny more than $100 million. Cameron: uh huh But see James you’re already over budget and the movie isn’t even half over?? Cameron: uh huh James is this movie gonna make a billion dollars? Cameron: oh yeah. Ok here’s all the money just get it done.
If there ever was a channel that needed an AI narrator it's probably this one. Dude has a pretty weird voice but I do appreciate the videos. I've seen a few from this channel and they've all been pretty good but his voice is something that takes a while to get used to.
Most of the Hollywood films nowadays are way overbudget. Marvel started this trend and everyone else followed it only to end up losing money including Marvel itself. I recently loved Challengers and the film was very good! But my jaw nearly dropped when I saw that the production budget was 55 million dollars...Almost all the tennis court scenes used a CGI tennis ball and that was the only CGI work. Other than that, I can't wrap my head around why the budget is so high. The film was a box office success but still I think they could've profited a lot more with lesser budget. Or I'd like to see a breakdown into why it might've cost so much if anyone can explain it.
And that movie tanked
@someguy42093 Lol are you talking about Challengers? No. It didn't tank. It has grossed more than 140 million dollars so far. It was both a critical & financial success. I just can't wrap my head around the budget.
The majority probably went to Zendaya. King Richard was another movie that had a huge budget for what it was, the main reason it was so high was because two thirds of it went to Will Smith. If he had cut his salary significantly they could have made it for $10-15 million. Instead it cost $40 million
It used to be the case that budgets went overboard because they were dealing with either new, expensive tech (Star Wars, Titanic), the shoot was complex (Titanic, Jaws) or because the size of the production was so vast and epic (Titanic, Heaven's Gate, Cleopatra, etc.). But nowadays (re: blockbusters), it seems more because of poor planning than anything else. We can get CGI to be very good, but it will look bad if the people working on it don't have a clear vision of how the movie is going to end and keep changing their minds, which necessities getting rid of already finished work and starting over.
For Challengers, it could be any number of things. If Covid protocols were still in place during production, that could've added more. Zendaya probably commands quite a hefty fee herself, as would Luca Guadagnino, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross.
There's only one good budget breakdown I've been able to find of a movie budget, and that's for M. Night Shyamalan's The VIllage: nofilmschool.com/the-village-movie-budget
@@reptongeek But like Zendaya was the producer on the film herself. So I don't think a big part of the budget went to her salary.
Don’t forget George’s editing team saved his bacon too.
I would say that Apocalypse Now has a greater history of production excesses than does Titanic. I think Titanic definitely spent more money over the budget but I've heard about the Apocalypse Now shooting stories for a very long time. Some of the Apocalypse Now stories aren't just about going over budget though but also about going over the time limits that had been put on the movie.😊
Lol that last bit is why I didn't include it in this particular video. Apocalypse Now was such a difficult production, that I think it should mostly go in a video about productions where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. The most surprising thing about Apocalypse Now is the fact that Coppola got it over the finish line and managed to retain (most) of his sanity.
hearing what a tyrant Cameron was, the whole PCP chowder incident makes more sense lol
Lol yeah you either love him or hate him, with not much middle ground.
@@SyntopikonAnd yet, many keep coming back to work with him, so clearly some in the industry enjoy the challenge as much as he does. Even Kate Winslet eventually worked with him again which no one would’ve ever expected to see.
Cameron's motto should be, "I make bland plop for the ignorant masses." His earlier films were good though.
Agree to disagree. Cameron's movies since Titanic - granted there have only been 2 - have been about universality more than anything.
And movies keep on having bigger and bigger budgets which makes less profit for the studio and a higher chance of flopping. The 200m budget has started to become the new normal for movies and movies are starting to become over 300m (the electric state, f1 movie, mission impossible 8, gladiator 2 to name a few that will come out within the next 18 months). Also big budget movies are starting to flop and flop more as we saw that in 2023 with 13 movies with a 200m+ budget out of the 14 that flop and which there is many reasons why they all flop and one of them is quality, which most of them didn't have a lot quality unlike the movie the creator with 80m dollar budget that looks likes a very expensive movie which had good quality, but not amazing quality. Unfortunately it bombed, but it did show that movie studios that can have their budget cut down by a lot and being more of a profit gain, but most of these movie studios aren't gonna learn or take awhile to learn, but we do see that dream works animation is cutting down their budgets making their profits higher even through animation movies usually do decent or good, but at least someone is learning. So far this year, some big budget movies have flopped but there have been more successful ones, but i see the second half having more flops than the first half but still have more successful ones. Next year will be interesting, since many big budget movies come out next year and i see a lot of them flopping so 2025 could be another 2023. As the major movie studios look for the next big thing, the smaller ones or independent ones will start becoming more successful with their originals unlike major ones that have originals flopping and relying on IP instead. It will be very interesting the next shift will be like.
Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!
I just finish reading wiki about the Empire Strike Back's production today! This video seem pretty coincidence and I loved it.
Glad you liked it! Empire Strikes Back also had quite the production. I think part of ESB also got delayed because of a fire on Kubrick movie. Then, they had to share space.
very good video, i'm commenting for the algorithm
All these movies were amazing, maybe not for the studios but for those watching is pure spectacle
Yup. It's notable that most of them are, in some way, epics as well. Jaws might be the iffiest to call an "epic", but it owes a lot to Moby Dick - which is most certainly an epic.
Titanic: did an irate crewmate feed the entire crew crystal meth? I remember as a kid hearing that they all got the flu. Years later, I heard the real story, and that cameron worked through the high
Lol you're not far off - it was PCP, and they laced the clam chowder when filming in Nova Scotia for the modern day scenes. They all went to the hospital and I think Cameron said that the cinematographer at the time, Caleb Deschanel (who was later replaced) tried to attack him. I think Cameron said that Bill Paxton was the most relaxed through it all.
I’ve watched both The Deer Hunter and Heaven’s Gate. They’re both significantly dull. The cinematography on both is gorgeous. But the films themselves are incredibly boring and slow. If I was a producer I might, at a stretch, have green lit another Cimino film with a mid budget after the success of TDH but I for sure would never have given him a blank cheque. He was an accomplished indie director (at best), he was never ever going to be an epic film director. It would be like giving Judd Apatow or Kevin Smith $300m to film whatever their version of ‘manifest destiny’ was
Part of it was that the late 60s through the 70s were a different time, and studios were willing to take a bit more creative risk. But to your point re: green lightning a mid budget Cimino film - I think that's exactly what they should've done. The studios issue - and the directors as well - was that they overextended the budgets way past what was necessary. If a $10 million dollar film is pretty much done and needs another $2 million to finish with effects, that's fine. But if a $11 million film goes past $22 million, then $33 million? Well, then you've got an issue on your hands. I'm sure studios already build in some slack (i.e. movie gets a production budget of $50 million but internally, they're okay with it going to $60 million or something), but they need to hold the line on that: this much and no more.
With Cimino, it seemed like artistic intent fueled by ego. No theater would carry a five-and-a-half hour film, and he should've known that. If he had stuck to his contract, he might've had a brighter future.
Ishtar? Water World?
Heaven's Gate was always considered the movie that cocaine built. Supposedly there was a shot of a dude's ass that took more than 30 attempts.
One hopes it's one of those films that eventually gets discovered, but depending on MGM handled the negatives, that might never happen.
@@Syntopikon I tried to watch it two or three years ago but it is mine numbingly slow. A million beautiful shots for sure but a meandering story that lacks cohesiveness.
Here's an actual breakdown of Cameron's budget busters:
The Abyss $70 million.
Terminator 2 $110 million
True Lies $120 million
Titanic $200 million
Avatar $400 million (approx) with R&D
Avatar 1’s budget was more like $240m. It was A2 & A3, which were shot back to back, that got into that $400m territory. They probably figure it’ll be somewhat amortized over the course of the series since most of the core preproduction and R&D is already done.
Sorcerer is a masterpiece. In my top of all time.
Also a solid film, though it unfortunately did seem to tank Friedkin's career.
I think film critics hit it hard because it was a remake of Wages of Fear, a French film that was beloved. It brought out the inner snob in a lot of them, as they unfairly decided that liking the remake meant that you weren't "chic" enough for the French version
Surprised there's no mention of Waterworld, but it would be the least extravagant of all these, which is saying something.
Fantastic video as always, just wanted to say you’ve become one of my favorite channels on the platform. May you continue to grow and prosper
just want to say that I love your videos. You have a very pleasant voice and make great content. Keep up the great work!
Glad you enjoyed it - and thank you!
Heaven's Gate is an example and cautionary takf if what happens when you give a director too much control on fiom and be self-indulgent as Cimino was.
Oh yeah. Dude went wild with it. Ego + money don't always turn out well (Cameron being an obvious exception).
@@Syntopikon Cimino was far from the only issue with HEAVEN'S GATE, but so many bad movies have lost so much more money since, its dollar loss seems somehow smaller these days. hard to believe but yep, its that bad now.
Ummmmm James we gave you $100 million to make this movie.
Cameron:uh huh
So just a $100 million budget James. We’re not giving anymore.
Cameron: uh huh
Ok James but we mean it. Not 1 penny more than $100 million.
Cameron: uh huh
But see James you’re already over budget and the movie isn’t even half over??
Cameron: uh huh
James is this movie gonna make a billion dollars?
Cameron: oh yeah.
Ok here’s all the money just get it done.
Interesting and informative videos, but you really need a narrator or use an AI narrator. Sorry.
You have quickly become one of my favorite TH-camrs I can’t get enough love everything you do!!!!!!!!!!
Glad you enjoy it - thanks!
If there ever was a channel that needed an AI narrator it's probably this one. Dude has a pretty weird voice but I do appreciate the videos. I've seen a few from this channel and they've all been pretty good but his voice is something that takes a while to get used to.
That's funny. I actually really like his voice. It's easy to listen to on long car rides. It fits with his deadpan sense of humor.
AI voices sound cheap af, tbh I preffer a real human talking
The one thing that I can't change (or, rather, would be very difficult to change) 😭
No way, he articulates very well and is easy to listen to.
No, it's perfect man