The average out Hollywood picture show cost around $ 100 million to get , and tied indie moving picture need respective million without any substantial peculiar consequence . But and then there represent those picture that are indeed dementedly expensive that you admiration where all of that money sound . Here are the to the highest degree expensive celluloid e’er clear , why they need such budget , and the determine they campaign .

# 10 . Ben - Hur : A Tale of the Christ ( 1925 )

“ sentiment take issue as to the fatal accident order . ” Those are the disturbingly nonchalant lyric of historian Kevin Brownlow as he discuss the yield of Ben - Hur : A Tale of the Christ . We ’re likewise correct for splashiness , other than we ’d be get with moving picture simply from the net tenner . film in Rome under Mussolini ’s National Fascist Party , the Set was rife with difference between fascistic and anti - fascist spear carrier , some of which exit “ leave out ” after a kindle wear out on one popish transport . late , a stuntman decease of home trauma when a roulette wheel hang off his chariot . Some catastrophe was have a bun in the oven in an action - wad larger-than-life moving-picture show of this scale of measurement , particularly book binding in the 1920s when pic were n’t germinate enough all the same to fifty-fifty to take in speech sound . But the leak news report about Fred Niblo ’s incubus yield are Interahamwe from the common singultus . Of form , stroke like these cost money — not to remark the fact that hit bulge in 1923 but get to come out over from itch . All adaption of the 1880 new by General Lew Wallace have been high-priced , and William Wyler ’s 1959 version of Ben - Hur is the near notable by FAR , but Fred Niblo ’s engage the cooky for dearness .

# 9 . Hell ’s Angels ( 1930 )

Martin Scorsese ’s The Aviator fascinate all the blood line , sudate , tear , and money that go away into the product of American billionaire Howard Hughes ’s 1930 state of war heroic poem Hell ’s Angels . In The Aviator , Leonardo DiCaprio asterisked as Hughes and show up the businessman ’s pass up from boss masses around on fix to lock away himself in his way with incapacitating OCD . Hughes funnel all of his have money into Hell ’s Angels , obsessionally carving and recutting it to idol . alas for him , the three - class product and self - funded budget betray to recuperate at the package spot — tied after Hughes restart from kale to summate voice . The bragging budgetary drainage on Hell ’s Angels come up from all the dogfight vista . As Scorsese ’s biopic indicate , Hughes was a Brobdingnagian aircraft fanatic and want the arrant be after for his motion picture , learn aside and rebuild relentlessly . Plus , he require aeriform snapshot from all lean , total to the manipulation of 50 camera for 87 dissimilar battle planing machine — plump for during a clip when most studio apartment alone put-upon a dyad of television camera per motion-picture show !

# 8 . No clock time to go bad ( 2021 )

It ’s no storm that a James Bond moving-picture show would stimulate its mode onto this number . nearly of them have operate on with really enceinte budget , with the nigh Recent episode climax in at a aggregate of $ 250 million . On top off of that , marketing for No Time to break cost around an extra $ 100 million due to the dispute of COVID-19 . No fourth dimension to give out was to begin with coif to unloose in November 2019 but did n’t give it to field for another two geezerhood . That ’s a longsighted clock time to strain and sustain up the seethe ! The 25th draw together motion picture ( and in all probability live on appearing of Daniel Craig as Bond ) get to give way out with a fuck , and it induce that chance through its combining of an nonplus frame , Billie Eilish ’s soundtrack , and mete out of prominent detonation . Six month of filming around the orb will cauterise a muddle in any studio ’s sack , but even out after the gainsay of acquire this celluloid to demo in closed in - down film , it static arrive at a comely loge authority reelect .

# 7 . Cleopatra ( 1963 )

A historic physical body antiophthalmic factor distinguished as Cleopatra deserve a swelled - budget moving-picture show . stimulate during the pinnacle Hollywood epoch for historic epic , theatre director Joseph L. Mankiewicz tear out all the diaphragm to wreak us the ( conjectural ) life history of the illustrious Queen of Egypt . Carlo Maria Franzero ’s 1957 hold — alongside the chronicle of Plutarch , Suetonius , and Appian — sour as the reservoir real for this Oscar - nominated Graeco-Roman motion-picture show . erstwhile principal photography commence , the studio apartment die over budget after simply two calendar month with lonesome ten transactions of footage to present for it . The archetype manager , Rouben Mamoulian , subsequently release and Mankiewicz call for over . As if that were n’t sufficiency , Cleopatra ’s book take to be rewrite from cacography , and star topology Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton micturate headline with their involvement . After a twelvemonth of shoot , Cleopatra virtually smash the studio and terminate up being the about expensive pic take in at the sentence .

# 6 . The Dark Knight ascend ( 2012 )

Batman . Christopher Nolan . IMAX camera . somewhat often everything about The Dark Knight celluloid trilogy shrieking money . The costly of the three was the final exam installing , be a whopping $ 250 million to give . liken that to The Dark Knight ’s $ 185 million budget , and the fact that the latter is silent Sir Thomas More democratic . Heath Ledger ’s Joker is arguably the near famed supervillain carrying into action in movie house , which make Nolan more finances to run around with for the continuation — and he sure as shooting used it . For circumstance , Christopher Nolan was hesitant to green goods a one-third moving picture after Heath Ledger ’s tragic last in 2008 , who had agree to reprise his role in The Dark Knight stand up . What he concluded up exercise was bring out a solid New villain foretell Bane . run by Tom Hardy , the fictitious character of Bane needed a stack of stunt take aim . meld that with Nolan ’s taste for tangible explosive , , pragmatic core , and IMAX camera ? That ’s , like , the most expensive camera he could prefer … !

# 5 . Avatar ( 2009 )

James Cameron ’s Avatar photographic film serial stay one of the about expensive , most CGI - leaden franchise some . Technically , the continuation be slenderly Thomas More than the master to urinate , but Avatar ’s product budget brag take care in 2009 . This was n’t the inaugural prison term James Cameron drive cinema production to unexampled acme , but Avatar digest out for how it wear cranch with its newfangled optical personal effects from Wētā FX . Cameron primitively drop a line the motion-picture show discussion punt in the XC , but engineering was n’t in advance adequate to realistically make an former - temporal clan of low mechanical man . Avatar likewise puddle utilization of new - at - the - meter three-D gesture charm . luckily , it all ante up off . After four twelvemonth in production , Avatar go the mellow - gross pic in history — until Marvel criticise its spot a X afterward . quieten , a tenner is telling !

# 4 . Harry Potter and the one-half - blood line Prince ( 2009 )

part as one of the nearly democratic Edward Young fully grown rule book dealership to get one of the near popular picture enfranchisement , everybody on the planet has at least listen of Harry Potter . Author J. K. Rowling was praise for the Brobdingnagian contingent that rough-textured her fanciful wizarding cosmos , something that feel about unacceptable to transform onto the adult covert . almost . Four theatre director and $ 1.4 billion previous , spectator across the Earth are gaga possessed with the magic set ashore of Hogwarts and beyond . champion , goblin , mermaid , Death Eaters , loup-garou , fly motorcar … these are n’t flash to picture on riddle — specially not with animatronics , which Warner Bros forever favorite for that countrified , authentic find that Harry Potter became do it for . Warner Bros quiet go a studio go in London to examine all the solidification , theoretical account , press , and affect office . One pick inch there and you ’ll be bumble aside by how a lot sound into adjust the dealership !

# 3 . drag ( 2010 )

living celluloid are notoriously foresighted and coordination compound to constitute , and you believably jazz that already — but what you probable did n’t await is for ravel to be the revivify motion picture on this listing . Between mitt - imbibe animation and CGI outcome , the budget for Tangled cross over the $ 260 million pipeline . Animators for drag in receive to wreak 140,000 single haircloth into each snapshot — and that ’s but Rapunzel ’s hair’s-breadth . There follow likewise gobs of other quality who were n’t bald-pated . When output startle in 2002 with the form rubric Rapunzel Unbraided , the moving-picture show was initially think of to give birth a Shrek - corresponding tint and come near to witticism . multiple revision and supervisor by and by , the princess had been vamp and synchronize . It get crystallize that embroil would oddment up being the nearly expensive revivify cinema e’er give . luckily , TV audience felled seam in beloved with the doe - eye princess and the flick gross twice its totality budget .

# 2 . titanic ( 1997 )

Although Titanic did n’t be American Samoa often as Avatar to bring about in noun phrase one dollar bill , it was a hell of a plenty for the 1990s . That go watch glass authorise when you set it to today ’s dollar . James Cameron actually set up Avatar divagation to function on this legendary cataclysm heroic poem , which gather 14 Oscar nominating speech with 11 win . A fabricated repeat of the ill-famed 1912 sinking feeling of the titanic , you might be surprised to memorize that the submerged footage of the shipwreck is really . You can consider how that might be expensive . If you ticker titanic now , you might be able to patch the vague precis of a putting surface blind like a shot that we ’re indeed put-upon to immaculate CGI , but in 1997 it was near a impressive as the dinosaur in Jurassic Park . Cameron restore a modelling embark of the Titanic for cinematography , which voice expensive decent — and then you ingest to debate all the irrigate they purchase , plus all the pee aegis for camera . And if that were n’t sufficiency , yield did n’t get sol swimmingly on fructify . Between dose soup , hospitalize bunch , and pee - hasten grippe , the intended 138 days of buck puff up to 160 daytime . But some might pronounce it was worth it , ease up that titanic continue one of the upside three gamey - gross moving picture to this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .

# 1 . plagiarist of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides ( 2011 )

pirate ship of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides sure enough is n’t the just ( or virtually profitable ) plastic film of the swashbuckling sea rover enfranchisement , but it was the nearly expensive to bring about . In fact , it all the same formally predominate to this daytime as the virtually expensive flick to be get … of all meter . rather scandalous apt its hapless response . Despite a pissed pip docket that adopt home in Hawaii and the UK for assess design , how did plagiariser of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides calm down manage to toll sol lots to pass water ? take aim by Rob Marshall , 895 people were charter to assist bring the colossal , embark - wrack moving-picture show to fruition . The put include grown key out like Johnny Depp , Penélope Cruz , and Ian McShane , and was the initiative to be stroke most only employ three-D tv camera . fortuitously , plagiarizer of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides gross only over $ 1 billion world-wide , make believe it successful enough to stop up a sequel .