10 INSANE Reasons Movies Were So Expensive

Though it's far and away the cheapest movie on this list, it's still maddening to look at Tommy Wiseau's The Room and appreciate that it cost $6 million. 

To be clear, that's $2 million more than one of that year's most acclaimed movies, Lost in Translation, ended up costing.

With its lack of name talent and generally tawdry production values, it's tough to fathom how Wiseau spent so much. Or it would be, if not for star Greg Sestero's acclaimed memoir of the experience, The Disaster Artist.

Wiseau himself admitted that the budget skyrocketed due to a number of cast and crew members needing to be replaced throughout the ramshackle shoot.

Sestero meanwhile claims that Wiseau built sets for sequences that could've been shot on location, needlessly shot scenes multiple times, and forgot his lines so often that even basic scenes took days.

Furthermore, Wiseau spent a huge sum on purchasing cameras rather than renting them as is industry standard, and also chose to shoot on film and HD video simultaneously, requiring two camera crews to be on set at greater expense.

The precise means through which Wiseau was able to raise so much money remains a matter of discussion for fans - an inheritance? importing men's fashion? real estate deals? - but perhaps the most shocking outcome of all is that The Room's infamous reputation has allowed it to gross $5.2 million worldwide.