Since its founding in 1923, Walt Disney Studios has produced hundreds of motion pictures. Some of them have achieved great success, while others have not. They are a wealthy firm that isn’t hesitant to spend a lot of money if it means getting a good return. Many have made millions of dollars thanks to franchise successes like Star Wars and the MCU, but others have been complete flops.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first animated feature film, was shown in 1937. It was a ridiculously successful movie that cost approximately $1.5 million to film and made about $418 million over the years in various incarnations. Other Disney productions haven’t had the same good fortune. The Lone Ranger was a movie office failure that cost between $225 and $250 to produce and received terrible reviews. Here are a few of the films that Disney spent a lot of money on.
Table Of Content
- 1 Beauty and the Beast – $255 Million
- 2 John Carter – $300 Million
- 3 Maleficent – $226 Million
- 4 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – $300 Million
- 5 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – $230 Million
- 6 Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides – $410 Million
- 7 Tangled – $260 Million
- 8 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – $225 Million
- 9 The Lion King – $260 Million
- 10 The Lone Ranger – $250 Million
Beauty and the Beast – $255 Million
Beauty and the Beast is one of the best live-action remakes that Disney has produced recently. Belle, a book-loving rural girl who offers to switch places with her father when he is taken by a supposedly evil creature, is portrayed by Harry Potter actress Emma Watson. When Belle, the Beast’s prisoner, attempts to discover the good in him, she learns that an awful curse has imprisoned him in his animalistic form.
A $255 million budget was used to film Beauty and the Beast in England. The two months it took to shoot it were definitely worth it. The movie was a hit with viewers when it was released in 2017, and it made over $1.2 billion at the box office. Disney had a massive hit on their hands, which is a major factor in the growing number of live-action remakes of their classic movies that they release each year.
John Carter – $300 Million
Taylor Kitsch portrays the title role in John Carter, a soldier caught up in a Civil War combat. Carter finds himself in the thick of a civil conflict on the future planet Barsoom after unintentionally travelling there. Carter has been changed from a typical human into a soldier with incredible strength and the capacity for long jumps as a result of Barsoom’s atmosphere.
The production of John Carter, which was directed by Andrew Stanton, who is best known for his work on the Pixar films A Bug’s Life and Finding Nemo, was very expensive. The film’s budget increased dramatically as a result of numerous changes to the title, editing, and shooting. Disney invested more than $300 million in the film, but ultimately it wasn’t even profitable.
Maleficent – $226 Million
Maleficent is a motion picture starring Angelina Jolie. Maleficent enjoys a wonderful childhood in a stunning forest realm. Yet when her realm is under siege, she must take action to protect it. The invader King Henry is stabbed by Maleficent, and the King swears that whoever avenges his murder can wed his daughter Aurora.
Somehow, the movie’s $226 million production budget wasn’t wasted. Maleficent was nominated for an Oscar Award for Best Costume Design and outperformed some of Disney’s other expensive projects in terms of audience reception. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, a sequel, will see Jolie reprising the role.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – $300 Million
The second most costly film Disney has ever produced is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is rescued from Davey Jones’ locker in this third part of the Pirates film series by Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly), and Captain Barbossa, a former foe (Geoffrey Rush). The crew must then engage in combat with Chinese pirate Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat) in order to regain control of the sea.
At World’s End had a $300 million price tag, so it could have easily failed miserably. Instead, the film’s box office earnings were around $961 million. The number of sequels increased, and the budget for successive films increased as well. Since the movie series has been so popular, director Jerry Buckheimer wants Depp to return for a new Pir ates movie.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales – $230 Million
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is the first in a series of Pirates entries on the list. Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) battles Captain Salazar (Javier Bardem) and his deadly band of ghost pirates in this most recent entry of the well-known franchise. Salazar has come out of the Devil’s Triangle and is out to avenge his father by killing every remaining pirate at sea.
In order to get fans to watch this fifth Pirates film in theatres, Disney signed a cheque for $230 million and hired a fantastic villain. The entire film was filmed in Australia, where Disney received certain advantageous tax benefits. In the end, Dead Men Tell No Tales was a box office success, earning over $795 million.
Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides – $410 Million
It seems sense that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides had such a huge budget from Disney after the success of At World’s End. The film, which debuted in 2011, is said to have cost more than $410 million to produce. In On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp plays Captain Jack Sparrow, who meets up with Angelica, a former flame (Penelope Cruz). In spite of this, Angelica takes Captain Jack to visit Blackbeard (Ian McShane), who is now the captain of the Queen Anne’s Revenge because she is dissatisfied with how their romance ended.
In order to save Blackbeard from his impending death, the crew embarks on a search for the Fountain of Youth. Pirates on Queen Anne’s Revenge compete with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who is also trying to locate the Fountain, along the journey. The plot is a little bit complicated, but moviegoers didn’t seem to mind. The movie made over $1 billion at the box office and sustained the Pirates franchise for many more years.
Tangled – $260 Million
Tangled is regarded as an excellent Disney+ film to watch on a rainy day because it is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel, which was first published in the early 1800s. She doesn’t understand why her evil godmother Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) has confined Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) in a tower. Rapunzel persuades humble thief Flynn Ryder to assist her in escaping when they accidentally cross paths.
Tangled is a charming, jovial, and amusing animated film. It’s also expensive; Disney spent $260 million to produce the movie. Nonetheless, audiences all over the world adore it. It has a strong 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned over $590 million at the movie office.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – $225 Million
The 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a continuation of the critically acclaimed original. Prince Caspian was one of Disney’s most expensive fantasy films ever, costing $225 million to co-produce with Walden Media. There was a lot of anticipation for the sequel because many Narnia fans thought the original movie was among the greatest to see on Easter.
The Pevencie children, who in the previous film found the enchanted land of Narnia in a hidden wardrobe, proceeded to have adventures in this one. Although though there were just three years between the two films, to an audience familiar with the Narnia books on which the films are based, it seemed like an eternity at the time. As fans lost interest, they stopped going to the movies.
The Lion King – $260 Million
Another remake that was a major success for Disney was The Lion King. Simba, a lion cub who will eventually take over his father Mufasa’s throne, is voiced by Donald Glover. Because he is not the heir to the throne, Mufasa’s brother Scar develops a diabolical scheme to kill Mufasa and attribute his demise to Simba.
The Lion King, which Jon Favreau directed, made extensive use of CGI to produce stunning shots of African scenery. The new voice cast, which also included John Oliver, Seth Rogan, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, was well-received by critics. With a $260 million budget, the film was yet another successful one for Disney, grossing $1.6 billion at the box office.
The Lone Ranger – $250 Million
One of Disney’s most notorious box office failures is The Lone Ranger. Despite having a production budget of $250 million or more, the movie only grossed $260 million at the box office, making a loss given the marketing expenses involved. The title character, played by Armie Hammer, is a man out for vengeance after his brother was killed in the Wild West. In an effort to track down those responsible for the massacre of his tribe when he was a youngster, his sidekick Tonto (Johnny Depp) is travelling with him.
From the beginning, The Lone Ranger was almost destined to fail. The movie ran over its initial budget due to production issues and a rewritten script that wasn’t working. The effort put forward by Hammer, Depp, director Gore Verbinski, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to complete the film was not worthwhile.
Being a binge-watcher himself, finding Content to write about comes naturally to Divesh. From Anime to Trending Netflix Series and Celebrity News, he covers every detail and always find the right sources for his research.
