Disney made an estimated $296.4 million loss at the box office on just two of its Marvel superhero movies in 2023 according to analysis of recently-released financial statements.
They reveal that the cost of making The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania came to a staggering $762.4 million (£609.3 million) before Disney banked $124.9 million (£99.4 million) in government incentives bringing its net spending on the movies down to $637.5 million. They both bombed at the box office.
According to industry analyst Box Office Mojo, the movies grossed a combined $682.2 million with theaters typically retaining 50% of the takings and the remainder going to the studio. This reflects the findings of film industry consultant Stephen Follows who interviewed 1,235 film professionals in 2014 and concluded that, according to studios, theaters keep 49% of the takings on average. It would give Disney just $341.1 million from The Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. No expense was spared on them.
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Disney does not publicly discuss how much it spends on specific productions and did not respond to a request for comment. Budgets are usually a closely-guarded secret. This is because studios combine the costs of individual pictures in their overall expenses and their filings don’t itemize how much was spent on each one. Films made in the UK are exceptions and both The Marvels and Quantumania fall into this category.
Studios shoot in the UK to benefit from its Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) which gives them a cash reimbursement of up to 25.5% of the money they spend in the country.
To qualify for the reimbursement, at least 10% of the production costs need to relate to activities in the UK. In order to demonstrate this to the UK government, studios tend to set up a separate production company in the country for each movie they make there.
The companies have to file financial statements which shine a spotlight on their budgets. They reveal everything from the headcount and salaries to the level of reimbursement and the total costs. Studios directly receive the revenue from theater tickets, streaming and Blu-ray sales and carry the costs of marketing as the function of the UK companies is purely making the movies.
Infinity War, Wandavision, first Ant-Man is solid, Guardians of the Galaxy, Winter Soldier, Unbreakable … does Chronicle count?
I think Shang Chi was good up until the MCU ending up until the third-act it felt like a completely different type of film which is what I was happy about
Chronicle could count. But then you’re inviting in things like Brightburn, maybe even Carrie or other super-power adjacent stories? Chronicle makes me sad for some reason. Totally forgot about Guardians. Loved the OST from those movies.
I also enjoyed Guardoans 2 and 3, and spiderman 2 and 3, and strange 2, and DP & Wolverine.
Totally agreed on Shang Chi, with the 3rd act being way out of place and not very good, but the forst 2/3rds of it were fun.
I’m actually also hopeful that Cap 4 and thunderbolts will he good since both had pretty good trailers.
I loved Shang chi, but hated the third act. I just wanted more of what the rest of the film gave us. I was hoping for a Jackie Chan-esque set piece ending. But instead we got budget infinity war.
Agreed, I felt the “monster” or evil behind the door was better left a mystery for a later movie or something else. The heart of the movie to me was the relationship between the characters.
The father-son-daughter struggle for an ending would have been better to me. I think Marvel can take risks but they need to take risks like not having a third act battle all the bloody time!
100% agree. Wandavision ducted from this too. I really enjoyed every episode except the last.