15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Trilogy
5. Spider-Man 3 Was The Most Expensive Movie Ever Made (For Three Weeks)
After Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3 was a crushing disappointment. Despite having all the right ingredients for success on the surface, the Sam Raimi who directed this third instalment of the franchise was not the same one who breathed life into Peter Parker in the two preceding movies. Much of that can be blamed on the script of course, but at the end of the day it's a movie with few redeeming qualities. Regardless of how it turned out though, Spider-Man 3 was still a very big production. As a result, it had a budget of $258 million, a figure which at the time made it the most expensive film ever made. Thanks to the similarly bloated Pirates of Caribbean: At Worlds End though (which cost $300 million), it held onto the record for only three weeks! Spending that much did pay off for Sony though, as Spider-Man 3 ultimately grossed over $890 million. Their profit might not be as much as you think though; industry experts have since calculated that the budget was more than likely closer to the $350 million range thanks to lengthy reshoots and the technology which was created to bring the Sandman to life (the official story remains that it cost $258 million). Sony later tried a similar tactic in terms of spending big in the hopes of earning big with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but that would backfire when the movie underperformed. But hey, that led to Spidey being able to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so bad news for them ended up being good news for everyone else...
