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Films with the Most Expensive Production Costs from Time to Time

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Pirates of the Caribbean became the most expensive in the 2000s and 2010s.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, LOS ANGELES — Films with large production costs are increasingly common in today’s modern era. However, that does not mean that big-budget films are only exclusive at this time.

Since the first, Hollywood has never hesitated to disburse large funds to produce films that are able to amaze the audience. Film Gone With the Wind is one example of films in the past that were produced at high costs in their time.

The following is a list of films with the highest production costs in each decade since the 1920s, as reported by di Looper:

1920s era

Film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ became the highest-grossing film of the 1920s. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name from 1880.

Film Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ production costs of 3.67 million US dollars or around Rp. 54.3 billion when converted at the current exchange rate. The cost of that was not the typical production value of films in the 1920s.

However, it costs a lot of money to be able to visualize a novel well into a film. One of the reasons, this 143 minute film requires a lot of expensive filming support. This great expense was paid off with great audience enthusiasm. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ managed to make a profit of up to 9 million US dollars or more than double the cost of production.

1930s era

cinema Gone With the Wind became the film with the highest production costs in the era of the 1930s. The film adaptation of the novel by Margaret Mitchell has to pay a copyright fee of 50 thousand US dollars or around Rp. 740 million when converted at the current exchange rate.

In addition, there is an additional expenditure of 250 thousand US dollars or around Rp. 3.7 billion when converted to the current exchange rate for preparation and testing.

Initially, the total cost of producing the film Gone With the Wind estimated at 1.5 million US dollars or around Rp. 22.2 billion when converted to the current exchange rate. However, the production costs turned out to be almost US$4 million or around Rp. 59 billion.

However, this huge cost was paid off with success Gone With the Wind. This film is still very well known even though 80 years have passed. The film’s domestic release grossed $198 million, which when adjusted for inflation would make it the highest-grossing film in history.

1940s era

In the 1940s, the title of the film with the highest production costs was assigned to film Forever Amber. Producing films at a high cost in this era was actually quite a bold gamble.

“The early years of the ’40s did not hold much promise for the American film industry, especially after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, and losses in foreign markets,” said Tim Drake of film.org.

There is no large enough market for international films that film activists dare to produce films at a cost of Gone With the Wind. But in 1947 or two years after World War II, director Otto Preminger presented Forever Amber.

The film was originally going to be produced at a cost of US$3 million or around Rp. 44 billion at current exchange rates. However, there were some messes that made production costs swell, such as the replacement of the main character.

The total cost spent on this film is 6 million US dollars or around Rp. 88.8 billion according to current exchange rates. This film managed to produce 8 million US dollars or around Rp. 118 billion. However, this amount is not enough to make Forever Amber become a profitable film.

1950s era

Ben-Hur is the film with the highest production costs in the era of the 1950s. Initial estimate of production costs Ben-Hur was US$5 million in 1953 to US$13 million in 1958. However, the film ended up costing US$15 million or around Rp. 222.2 billion at current exchange rates.

Some aspects that make production costs Ben-Hur what became very big was the involvement of 15 thousand extras and the use of six cameras which was very expensive, which was 100 thousand US dollars per camera at that time. The length of the production process also adds to the large costs. This film managed to achieve a large domestic income of 73 million US dollars or around Rp. 1 trillion according to current exchange rates.

1960s era

Cleopatra became the highest-grossing film of the 1960s. The film is planned to only cost 5 million US dollars or around Rp. 74 billion according to current exchange rates.

Production costs began to swell after director Rouben Mamoulian was replaced after four months of production. The film was recorded to have cost US$44 million to produce, or around Rp. 651 billion at current exchange rates.

The film grossed nearly 58 million US dollars in 1963. When adjusted for current inflation, the film’s total revenue Cleopatra reached 484 million US dollars or around Rp 7 trillion.

1970s era

In 2020, it is normal for superhero films to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce. The average Marvel Cinematic Universe movie costs $300 million.

However, large production costs for comic book adaptations were not uncommon in the 1970s. At that time, superhero films were also not seen in the cinema line.

Therefore, the fact that the film Superman costing up to 55 million US dollars at the time became a fresh concept. Despite the high cost, this film managed to reap revenues from screenings in various parts of the world of 300.5 million US dollars, or around Rp. 4.5 trillion according to current exchange rates.

1980s era

Rambo III became the film with the highest production costs in the era of the 1980s. This film cost 69 million US dollars or around Rp 1 trillion according to current exchange rates. This amount has swelled about double the previous estimate of 31 million US dollars.

Film production costs Rambo III also much higher than the cost of producing the first Rambo film, namely First Blood in 1982. At that time, First Blood cost of production of 15 million US dollars.

Despite the high cost, Rambo III managed to reap revenues three times greater than production costs. This film’s revenue from screenings in various parts of the world reached almost 189 million US dollars or around Rp. 2.7 trillion.

1990s era

Titanic is a film that is liked by many people to this day. This great popularity was worth the hefty cost of producing films in its time.

The film, which was released in 1997, was originally planned to only cost $100. However, there are various factors that ultimately make the cost of production Titanic doubled to 200 million US dollars.

“It makes Titanic became the first film in history to cost over $200 million (not adjusted for inflation),” according to the page Independent.

At the time of its initial release, Titanic managed to reap revenues of 1.8 billion US dollars or around Rp. 26 trillion according to the current exchange rate.

2000s era

The films that cost the most to produce in the 2000s were Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The film, which was released in 2007, cost 300 million US dollars or around Rp. 4.4 trillion. This makes Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End became the most expensive film in history, without adjusting for inflation.

Exorbitant production costs paid off with the popularity of this film. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End managed to reap a profit of 961 million US dollars or around Rp. 14 trillion.

2010s era

serial movie Pirates of the Caribbean again occupied the position as the film with the highest production costs in the 2010s era. This time, the position of the film with the largest production cost is held by Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Page Deadline in 2011 reported that the film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides cost of production of 250 million US dollars. However, in 2014, it was revealed that the production cost of this film reached 410.6 million US dollars or around Rp. 6 trillion at current exchange rates.

It makes a movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides become the most expensive film among films Pirates other. Besides that, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides It is also the most expensive film in history.

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