Only 1 Big Budget Movie From 2023 Has Actually Turned A Profit

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the only big-budget movie from 2023 to actually turn a profit. Many of the major tentpoles released this year saw their budgets balloon due to a combination of COVID-19 delays and inflation. As a result, a total of 14 movies released in 2023 cost $200 million or more to make, including Fast X, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Little Mermaid, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, The Marvels, The Flash, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania, Elemental, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.

Of the 14 movies released in 2023 with a budget of $200 million or more, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the only one to make a profit so far this year, according to IndieWire. Written and directed by James Gunn and marketed as the third and final film in the trilogy, the Marvel movie was budgeted at $250 million and went on to make $845 million at the box office to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year.

Why Big-Budget Movies Are Struggling To Turn a Profit

The fact that only one release in 2023 that cost $200 million or more has actually turned a profit underscores how big-budget movies are beginning to struggle in the modern theatrical landscape, despite most of the movies seeing above-average returns. This is consistent across all studios, though they are mostly confined to sequels and remakes. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the few non-franchise films on the list, though it likely won’t recoup its $200 million budget at the box office.

The three highest-grossing films of 2023 – Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Oppenheimer – each cost under $150 million to make, which is by no means a small budget, but one that is much more conducive to turning a profit in the modern theatrical landscape. These three movies also weren’t part of an existing film franchise and, in the case of Barbie and Oppenheimer, the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon built on genuine audience interest benefited the box office returns for both movies.

While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the only big-budget movie from 2023 to turn a profit, Marvel’s other two releases from this year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania and The Marvels, have struggled to break even. The big-budget strategy is clearly starting to struggle in its current form, and with the smaller-budgeted Barbie and Oppenheimer finding much more success, Hollywood should rethink the conventional wisdom which is beginning to result in massive losses.

Source: IndieWire