If you’ve seen Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s hard to believe the figures we’re about to give you. Because the Marvel movie is many things (among them, an overextended joke packed with high-profile cameos), but it certainly isn’t well shot and doesn’t have a single scene that doesn’t look like it was made in a warehouse. And yet, it turns out that it is, just like that, the most expensive movie ever made. At least it was a hit and didn’t put Disney in the red.
Deadpool, Wolverine and a sack of money
Until now, the most expensive movie in the history of cinema was Jurassic World: Dominion, which cost an eye-watering 549 million dollars. However, by a hair, Marvel has overtaken it with 556.8 million, which it’s pretty hard to understand what they could possibly have spent on. It’s true that before its release it received 110.7 million in rebates from the UK government, bringing the outrageous sum down to the official 446.1 million.
At least, all this outlay was worth it: Deadpool & Wolverine grossed 1.34 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history (until the arrival of The Odyssey). Keep in mind that the 2023 Hollywood strikes are included in this budget, which still added to the production costs even if they couldn’t shoot a single scene.
It’s true that it went over (by a lot) the initial budget, as was already stated at the time, but no one seems too worried about it. As long as they make money, this kind of made-in-Hollywood barbarity will always have a free pass.
