While officially boasting a budget in the friendly neighbourhood of $250 million US, the three-quel, which kicks off the summer movie season today, is rumoured to have actually cost as much as $350 million. Lob in another $150 million for marketing and promotion and Spider-Man 3 handily scales new heights -- even surpassing the royally-expensive Cleopatra. If forking out half a billion dollars on a movie about a nerd who hangs from webbing and dresses in red and blue pyjamas sounds excessive to you, you're not alone.
Even producer Laura Ziskin -- who insists No. 3 cost "in the ballpark" of $250 million -- admits, "(The numbers) sound crazy to us, too. But when you look at them relative to what the potential return is -- and what the return has been historically -- it's a sound investment.
" Case in point: Spider-Man 2 earned about $800 million worldwide -- just in theatres. As Ziskin points out, "The theatrical box office is just one part of the revenue stream for these movies ..
. The life of the movies go on and on so I'm not worried about Sony." He's not alone.
Already word is Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, opening May 25, has soared past the $300-million mark -- and it's not even finished. Not that either Spider-Man 3 or Pirates marks the first time Hollywood has blown wild sums of cash in the hopes of attracting moviegoers with dizzying spectacle. Here then, as reported by forbes.
com, are history's priciest productions -- excluding this summer's contenders. All figures are in US dollars and are adjusted for inflation. Whoever the financiers were, they must have been at least as soused as star Richard Burton, whose real-life romance with Elizabeth Taylor was as tumultuous as this would-be classic's production.
James Cameron's epic was expected to meet as bleak a fate as its namesake. Little did anyone suspect the director would end up pocketing a profit when his lil' opus sailed past the $1-billion mark. Kevin Costner flopped as a web-footed Mad Max.
Wow. Didn't see that one coming. 5.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006): $223 million Another water-bound gamble, but this one paid off handsomely for producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Because he doesn't have enough money already. Sure, Arnold Schwarzenegger came back -- for a purported $40-million salary.
If Peter Jackson had just used a guy in a gorilla suit, it would have cost $212. If only they had spent $210 million, maybe it wouldn't have sucked.
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