The Most Expensive Movies of 2025

12. Thunderbolts | 180$ millions | 1.4$ million per minute

Reshoots were the word that followed this one around all year, and they don’t come cheap when your sets, VFX pipeline, and A-list cast are already in motion. Marvel put Thunderbolts in the $180 million range for production, but the bigger problem was the math after release: a worldwide total of about $382.4 million looks healthy on a poster, yet it can still leave a dent once you factor in a blockbuster-sized marketing push and the studio-theater split. Several industry reports framed it as an underperformer theatrically, even as it later found a second life with audiences at home. | © Marvel Studios

11. Captain America: Brave New World | 180$ millions | 1.5$ million per minute

The latest star-spangled chapter arrived with a price tag “north of” $180 million before marketing, and the spend is visible in the scale: big action set pieces, heavy effects work, and a story built to play like a global incident, not a street-level sequel. Captain America: Brave New World ultimately finished around $415.1 million worldwide, which is close to the break-even talk that pegged profitability in the low-$400s when marketing is included – meaning it didn’t crater, but it also didn’t soar the way Marvel’s top-tier event films do. Call it a narrow landing: respectable turnout, expensive runway, and not much room for error. | © Marvel Studios

10. Back in Action | 207$ millions | 1.8$ million per minute

Netflix doesn’t have box office receipts to hide behind, so the budget headline becomes the story – and Back in Action gave the internet plenty to chew on. Reporting put its production spend at roughly $207.2 million, softened by UK tax incentives that reduced the net cost, which helps explain how a star-driven spy comedy winds up priced like a theatrical tentpole. The platform’s own early performance signals were strong, including a huge opening weekend in views, so it’s the rare case where “too expensive” and “people actually watched it” can both be true at once. | © Chernin Entertainment

9. Tron: Ares | 220$ millions | 1.8$ million per minute

If you were wondering where the money went, start with the glow: sleek production design, effects-heavy action, and a digital world that demands constant visual polish rather than the occasional splash. Tron: Ares carried a reported budget in the $180–$220 million neighborhood depending on how the accounting is described, and either way it needed far more heat at the box office than it got. With worldwide grosses sitting around $142.2 million, the postmortems came fast, including estimates that Disney would take a nine-figure loss once marketing and distribution were added to the tab. | © Walt Disney Pictures

8. Jurassic World Rebirth | 225$ millions | 1.7$ million per minute

“Dinosaurs are expensive” sounds like a joke until you remember what modern franchise filmmaking actually involves: international location work, massive creature animation, and a marketing campaign that turns billboards into a second release. Universal reportedly kept Jurassic World Rebirth around $225 million before marketing, and – unlike several other big 2025 swings – this one justified the spend with sheer turnout. The worldwide total landed at about $869.1 million, putting it firmly in the win column and proving (again) that audiences will show up for a well-timed summer dino stampede, even if critics are mixed. | © Universal Pictures

Superman 2025 cropped processed by imagy

7. Superman | 225$ millions | 1.7$ million per minute

Here’s the tricky part about launching a new era: you pay for the future up front, and the world decides whether you get to keep spending. James Gunn’s Superman came with an estimated $225 million budget, plus the kind of global marketing that treats “opening weekend” like a month-long campaign, and its performance ended up fueling a very specific argument: solid hit or not enough for the ambitions? Box office totals reached roughly $616.8 million worldwide – strong by most standards, debated by franchise standards – yet it undeniably put DC back in a healthier place than the brand’s recent track record. | © DC Studios

Fantastic Four First Steps Vanessa Kirby

6. The Fantastic Four: First Steps | 230$ millions | 2$ millions per minute

Even by Marvel standards, the bill for The Fantastic Four: First Steps reads like a statement of intent: multiple outlets pegged production at above $200 million, and the spending shows up in the film’s scale-heavy set pieces and VFX workload. It finished at about $521.9 million worldwide, which is a solid global haul, but one that lands in that familiar “successful, not seismic” zone once you remember how expensive superhero launches are to market. In other words: not a flop, not a phenomenon – more like a costly franchise reset that did its job. | © Marvel Studios

5. Snow White | 270$ millions | 2.5$ millions per minute

A $270 million production budget can turn any opening weekend into a pressure test, and that’s exactly what happened with Disney’s live-action Snow White. The film’s theatrical run ended at roughly $205.7 million worldwide, which is the kind of mismatch that makes profitability basically impossible before you even talk about marketing. Big musical numbers, elaborate fantasy production design, and extensive effects work all cost real money – and when the audience turnout doesn’t match the ambition, the budget becomes the story. | © Walt Disney Pictures

4. F1 | 300$ millions | 1.9$ millions per minute

Race-weekend realism is a pricey habit, and it’s a big reason F1 carried a reported $200–$300 million budget – some chatter pushed the number to $300 million, and the filmmakers publicly pushed back on the top-end rumors. What matters is that it played like an actual theatrical event: about $631.7 million worldwide is a genuine win for an original-ish sports drama in a sequel economy. If Apple wanted proof it could compete in theaters, this was the loudest possible receipt. | © Apple Studios

3. The Electric State | 320$ millions | 2.5$ millions per minute

Netflix doesn’t publish “profit” the way box office does, but the sticker shock on The Electric State is still hard to ignore: a reported $320 million for a retro-futurist odyssey packed with robots, digital environments, and relentless effects shots. The Russo brothers also emphasized physical performance for the robots on set – great for texture, not great for the bottom line – and early reviews were rough at launch. It’s the kind of movie that looks expensive in every frame, even when the reception doesn’t feel like $320 million. | © AGBO

2. Avatar: Fire & Ash | 400$ millions | 2$ millions per minute

James Cameron doesn’t make “small” anything, and Avatar: Fire & Ash reportedly sat at $400 million in production spend – an all-in bet on cutting-edge pipeline work, huge-scale worldbuilding, and the kind of polish that takes years. The gamble paid off fast: the film crossed $1 billion worldwide within weeks of its December 19, 2025 release, and it kept hanging around at the top of the charts into early 2026. At that level, the conversation shifts from “how did it cost so much?” to “how high is the ceiling?” | © 20th Century Studios

Cropped Mission Impossible The Final Reckoning

1. Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning | 400$ millions | 2.4$ millions per minute

A production budget reported at $400 million will make any global total look smaller than it should, and that’s the shadow hanging over Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. Yes, it delivered spectacle, globe-hopping scale, and the franchise’s signature obsession with doing stunts the hard way – but it ended at about $598.8 million worldwide, which is strong until you remember what it had to earn just to feel comfortable. It’s the rare “big hit” that still reads like an underperformer on a spreadsheet. | © Paramount Pictures