Most of the Comic Book Movies from Marvel Comics and DC Comics have giant budgets, mostly for special effects and large star-studded casts. While some recent comic book movies like "Deadpool" have proven that less is more sometimes, the next two Avengers movies will shatter records. According to reports, the two "Avengers: Infinity War" movies will have a budget of $1 billion.
Previous budgets for Marvel Comics movies
Marvel Studios have always spent money on their big budget comic book movies. Their very first movie was "Iron Man," and that had a big $140 million budget.
That was very risky for a superhero that most mainstream moviegoers had never heard of at the time. The movie made $585 million worldwide and Marvel Comics was a hit at the theaters. In 2015, "Ant-Man" came out, the riskiest movie yet for Marvel, and they still spent $130 million to make back $519 million. However, to spend $1 billion on two movies means that they need to make a lot more than $500 million to make a profit. That is where "Avengers: Infinity War" and its sequel hold an advantage.
The billion dollar Marvel movies
The first movie that Marvel made that eclipsed $1 billion worldwide was the first "Avengers" movie in 2012. That film made $1.5 billion worldwide and $623 million domestically.
Marvel spent $220 million on that movie, which was considered a great deal of money at the time. They upped the ante on "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and spent $250 million while making $1.4 billion. Add in "Iron Man 3" ($1.2 billion) and "Captain America: Civil War" ($1.1 billion), and that is four billion dollar comic book movies.
With that in mind, it seems smart to bet that both "Avengers: Infinity War" movies will break $1 billion, making the new monster budget something Marvel Comics can double.
The last Avengers movies
There are a couple of reasons that Marvel Comics believes that "Avengers: Infinity War" and its sequel are good bets to spend $1 billion to make.
Of course, the first two movies both broke $1 billion, so that is a given. However, there are thoughts these next ones could break those records. These might be the last time fans see Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Chris Hemsworth as Thor. If the projections for "Logan" this weekend are any indication, that goodbye alone will make these Marvel comic book movies the biggest of all-time.