THE MARVELS Is Reportedly One Of Marvel Studios' Lowest-Budget Movies Of All Time

THE MARVELS Is Reportedly One Of Marvel Studios' Lowest-Budget Movies Of All Time

Disney's Bob Iger said Marvel Studios was going to start spending a little less on its MCU-based content, and if the reported budget for The Marvels is any indication, he was on the level...

By MarkCassidy - Sep 19, 2023 01:09 PM EST
Filed Under: The Marvels

The reported budget for The Marvels has been revealed, and, if accurate, it would tie the Captain Marvel sequel with the first two Ant-Man films as Marvel Studios' cheapest movie of all time.

In Vanity Fair's profile on director Nia DaCosta, it's claimed that the budget for The Marvels is a very modest $130 million. For some context, Marvel Studios' other 2023 big-screen releases, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, cost a reported $200 million and $250 million, respectively.

Likely as a response to Quantumania underperforming at the box office, Disney's Bob Iger recently indicated that Marvel would be taking a more cost-effective approach, and this may be the first sign that Kevin Feige and co. have begun to reduce the scale of the more standalone MCU adventures.

A recent report claimed that The Marvels will likely clock in at around 1 hour, 38 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes minus credits). The current shortest Marvel Studios movies are The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World, which both run for 1 hour, 52 minutes, so, if this is accurate, it would also mark The Marvels as the shortest entry in the franchise by some margin.

Despite the relatively inexpensive price tag, The Marvels will be the highest-budget movie ever directed by a Black woman, surpassing Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle In Time. During the interview, DaCosta admitted to having some reservations about signing on, and reached out to previous MCU filmmakers to ask their advice.

“Are they going to kill me and destroy my soul? Is Kevin Feige a bad man?” she joked. “And they were like, ‘No, he’s just a good guy who was a nerd.’”

DaCosta also revealed that she would text Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton on tough shoot days when she was feeling particularly "overwhelmed."

“Sometimes you’d be in a scene and you’d be like, ‘What the hell does any of this shit mean?’ Or an actor’s looking at some crazy thing happening in space, and they’re [actually] looking at a blue X. There were obviously hard days, and days where you’re like, ‘This just isn’t working.’”

"In Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”

The film also stars Zawe Ashton and Park Seo-joon. Nia DaCosta directs, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Mary Livanos and Matthew Jenkins serve as executive producers. The screenplay is by Megan McDonnell, Nia DaCosta, Elissa Karasik and Zeb Wells.

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regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 9/19/2023, 1:14 PM
Zero chance this cost 130 mil.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/19/2023, 1:16 PM
@regularmovieguy - Yeah. Didn’t believe the $500 million that someone on this site was claiming, but this doesn’t sound likely either.

Unless there isn’t much of it in space, I find this number incredibly unlikely.
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 9/19/2023, 1:20 PM
@mountainman

Secret Invasion cost 200 mil and this wasn’t made for D+. I’m sure Variety and Deadline will report a more accurate budget when it comes out.
StSteven
StSteven - 9/19/2023, 1:25 PM
@mountainman - Well unless the first 2 acts of the movie alternate between Kamala's house and Fury's space station with Kamala, Carol, and Monica randomly switching places in comedically timed situations (i.e. eating a bowl of cereal, using the bathroom, getting dressed, etc.) for the first hour. Because who wouldn't want to see that? And if they could somehow work a laugh track on to of that *chef's kiss*.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/19/2023, 1:35 PM
@mountainman - I've seen the $500 million budget rumor out there a bunch, but don't believe it. https://themoviebudget.com/the-marvels/

That said, I also don't believe this cost "only" $130 million. The first Captain Marvel had a budget of around $175 million and those were 2018 dollars.
There's no way this movie, which had lots of reshoots and delays cost that much less with today's inflated dollars.

More "Hollywood accounting" in advance to get ahead of the damage control imo.
mountainman
mountainman - 9/19/2023, 1:37 PM
@Feralwookiee - Yup. They know it’s going to perform poorly so the $130 million budget claim could be trying to get ahead of that.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 9/19/2023, 1:38 PM
@mountainman - space might actually be cheaper tbh (not that I know for sure though). Shooting on location tends to cost way more money.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 9/19/2023, 1:47 PM
@regularmovieguy - Yeah Disney often lies and hides an extra 20 to 30 mil from the public. They said Ant Man 4's marketing budget was only 100 mil but stock investors meeting revealed it cost 150 mil so the movie underperformed because of that. Never trust Disney is the motto lol
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/19/2023, 1:47 PM
@mountainman - Yeah.
Forbes had an article stating that Disney was billed $130 million for The Marvel after just 2 months of filming.
Obviously, there are millions more spent on reshoot and post production, so I think they're trying to bullshit that $130 number as the total budget because they know it will likely underperform.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinereid/2023/04/11/disneys-bill-for-the-marvels-came-to-130-million-two-years-ago/
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 9/19/2023, 1:51 PM
@Itwasme - Quantumania was shot almost entirely on volume and still cost 200 millions to make.
Clintthahamster
Clintthahamster - 9/19/2023, 1:52 PM
@mastakilla39 - "Never trust Disney is the motto"

Man, I hate to tell you, but every publicly traded company fudges the numbers as much as they can to paint a rosy picture for shareholders.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 9/19/2023, 1:52 PM
@Usernametaken - true, but that is an elaborate set and back drop. Gravity was a $100mm budget.
MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 9/19/2023, 1:18 PM

So many other movies this year might have had a chance to perform better if the budgets weren't skyrocketed. All the other studios should take notes.
Usernametaken
Usernametaken - 9/19/2023, 1:43 PM
@MCUKnight11 - you mean lie about the budgets?
Clintthahamster
Clintthahamster - 9/19/2023, 1:50 PM
@Usernametaken - They all lie about their budgets. If they said $500M, that would mean $750M.
CoHost
CoHost - 9/19/2023, 1:22 PM
Can't tell if that's racist or sexist.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 9/19/2023, 1:23 PM
Let’s get ready for another controversial MCU film.
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