The most expensive film ever made is costing the studio so much that even if it reaches $1 billion at the box office, it may still be a flop.

When James Cameron was making Titanic in the mid-1990s, reports of its extravagant budget had taken Hollywood by surprise. The film cost $200 million to make, and millions more were spent on its publicity and marketing. It took a windfall at the box office to ensure that ‘Titanic did not sink’ (pun intended). So, imagine a film that is costing its makers several times more, and has a $250-million budget for cast salaries alone. The new most expensive film ever made is a gargantuan project that may put infrastructural undertakings to shame.

Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) upcoming crossover event film, ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ will soon have the title of the world's most expensive film. Collider recently reported that Marvel has spent $8 million on its pre-production alone, more than thrice what was spent on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which eventually cost $388 million. Forbes also reported that the per-week production cost of Doomsday is twice as much as Quantumania, which has led to experts predicting that the film could cost Marvel Studios anything between $500-600 million. This is much higher than the production cost of Star Wars Episode IX, which currently holds the record with a production cost of $447 million. (Hindustan Times, but headline rejigged)