10 Films That Cost WAY More Than They Needed To
Tangled cost HOW much???
Remember the time where it seemed inconceivable for a movie to cost a quarter of a billion dollars? But if a studio spends less than that on a blockbuster nowadays, it's regarded as "cheap".
Even though it still sounds crazy to inject that much money in a film, it usually pays off. If a movie is part of a lucrative franchise, producers are willing to spend as much as they need to, so long as there's a good chance they can make a profit.
Having said that, there are plenty of features that can't possibly justify their expenses. Despite all the money put into 2005's King Kong, some of the special effects are cartoonishly laughable. Even though The Batman was a huge success, it's odd how its budget is on par with Titanic. Why would a studio invest $200 million in an adaptation of a board game? And when the film in question fails to break even, it makes you wonder why Hollywood pumped so much cash into it in the first place.
Regardless of the quality or success of the finished project, there's no logical reason why these films cost as much as they did.
10. The Room - $6 Million
Tommy Wiseau’s The Room became a cult classic for all the wrong reasons. Viewers were fascinated by the non-sensical plot, the incomprehensible dialogue, and the lead actor's inhuman delivery of lines.
Another aspect about this travesty that drew attention was its expenses. Because the production looks dirt-cheap, you would never suspect it cost more than Get Out, Lost in Translation, Whiplash, Moonlight, or Rocky. Due to The Room's minimalism, it's not immediately evident why its budget was $6 million, when it should've been ten times less.
But the simple explanation behind the these ludicrous expenditures was gross incompetence. Because Wiseau didn't know the difference between 35mm film and HD video, he recorded The Room with both cameras. Instead of renting the recording equipment - as is standard practice - he purchased both cameras, adding an unnecessary sum to the budget.
Due to massive delays, many people working on The Room walked away in mid-production, forcing Wiseau to hire new actors and crew members on a regular basis.
Even after post-production, Wiseau was still spending money on his life's work. To advertise screenings, he placed a billboard for The Room on Highland Avenue in Hollywood, forcing the foolish filmmaker to spend another $300,000.
To prevent The Room from being pulled from the cinema, the bumbling director paid a theatre to screen it for two weeks, believing this would make his movie eligible for Oscar nominations.
Sadly, The Room wasn't nominated for anything because it's really, really, really bad.