Nobody doubts just how much of a cash-cow Avengers: Infinity War will be for Disney and Marvel, but if the rumoured budget for Infinity War is to be believed, it might not be for much longer.
A report has landed online that suggests the combined budget of Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1 and 2 will be a little over $1 BILLION dollars. That's $1,000,000,000,000 - or a one and then nine zeros after it. One billion.
You might balk at that figure and we did too when we first heard it. However, when we assessed it logically, it made sense. Well - as much sense as these things can.
Avengers: Age of Ultron's budget, without taking in tax incentives it received, cost Disney in and around $350,000,000 to make and has, so far, netted them $1,400,000,000,000, or $1.4 billion. That cost, by the way, includes advertising, promotional tours and any and all other costs related to the film. So on that basis, $1 billion sounds like an accurate figure.
With Infinity War heavily rumoured to be Robert Downey Jr.'s final film as Iron Man, the figure quoted as his paycheck is astronomical - over $200,000,000 for Downey Jr. alone, with that same amount going to pay for the directors, producers AND the rest of the cast.
Think about that for a minute. Robert Downey Jr., if this report is to be believed, will be paid the combined amount of the TWO directors, the producers and the entire cast. $200,000,000 to pay all of them and $200,000,000 for Robert Downey Jr.
As for whether or not Marvel will make their money back on Infinity War remains to be seen. As it stands, Ultron's effectively quadrupled its budget in takings between global box-office and home sales - and that's not even counting any of the tie-ins like toys or merchandising.
It's clear that Marvel are expecting Infinity War to make them serious bank, but will it be enough to justify a budget such as this? What do you think? Is Marvel crazy to give Downey Jr. that kind of money? Is Infinity War worth that kinda money? Let us know in the comments!
