Infinity War Is the Second Most Expensive Movie Ever Made

Earlier this week, a report claimed that bothInfinity WarandSolo: A Star Wars Storymay ultimately tie for the distinction of being themost expensive movie ever made, but now another report claimsInfinity Wardidn’t cost quite so much. While the original report was never confirmed, it claimed that bothAvengers: Infinity WarandSolo: A Star Wars Storyhad production budgets of roughly $400 million, which would be enough to best the all-time record of $378 million that Disney spent to make 2011’sPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. While neither budget has been confirmed, a new report claims thatAvengers: Infinity Warhad a production budget of nearly $300 million, although an exact figure was not divulged.

Many times, official budget numbers are never made public, but it wouldn’t surprise many ifAvengers: Infinity Wardid cost upwards of $300 million, or even $400 million. There was a report from a few years back that claimed the combined production budget of bothAvengers: Infinity WarandAvengers 4would be $1 billion, meaning that each movie would cost $500 million apiece. That was also during a time when Marvel was planning onshooting both movies simultaneously, although they ended up scrapping those plans. Filming started onAvengers: Infinity Warin January 2017, wrapping in mid-July 2017, with filming starting onAvengers 4in August 2017, wrapping in mid-January 2018, completing roughly an entire year of production for both movies.

There is no indication thatMarvelwill confirm the production budget forAvengers: Infinity War, with just one week left until the first sneak peek screenings are held on Thursday, April 26. Most Marvel movies cost upwards of $200 million, but for a movie as massive asAvengers: Infinity War, which is said to feature practically every superhero established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, it definitely wouldn’t be surprising to learn that the budget has approached, or eclipsed, $300 million, or even $400 million. Even if it did, it probably won’t take Marvel too long to earn the budget back.

We reported earlier this week that newbox officeprojections put the opening weekend forAvengers: Infinity Warbetween $235 million and $255 million, which could surpass the record of $247.9 million set in December 2015 byStar Wars: The Force Awakens. Early projections put it between $175 million and $200 million, but that was before Fandango reported thatInfinity Warhas outsold the last seven movies in the MCU combined, at this stage of their pre-sales cycle. Even if it doesn’t manage to breakThe Force Awakens' opening record, it seems likely thatAvengers: Infinity Warwill be the movie to beat for the rest of the year at the box office.

This report fromThe Wall Street Journalalso reveals thatAvengers: Infinity Warhasalready sold more than $50 million in advanced ticket sales, which is currently good for third best all time behindStar Wars: The Last JediandStar Wars: The Force Awakens. With one week left untilAvengers: Infinity Waropens, it will be interesting to see if it can break that record. There is one indication that it might be able to break the record, with Wall Street Journal’s Ben Fritz sharing an excerpt from his article on Twitter, which you can see below, where it shows that a survey revealedInfinity Warwas the top choice to see among upcoming films, whileThe Force Awakens' was at 33% at the same time before its opening.