‘The Marvels’ Cost Four Times More To Make Than Sci-Fi Film ‘The Creator’
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Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige claims he has found the magic formula for making cheaper movies and he wants everyone to know about it.
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personal finance
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July 26, 2025
04:32 PM
Forbes
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What caught my attention is Interestingly, Hollywood & Entertainment‘The Marvels’ Cost Four Times More To Make Than Sci-Fi Film ‘The Creator’ByCaroline Reid, Senior Contributor
Additionally, Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights, considering recent developments
Caroline Reid covers the entertainment industry AuthorJul 26, 2025, 04:32pm EDTThe level of spending on 'The Marvels' has been highlighted by the significantly lower budget of
More 'The Creator' Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios, given the current landscape
Additionally, © 2023 MARVEL
Courtesy of Marvel Studios Marvel Studios' president Kevin Feige claims he has found the magic formula for making cheaper movies and he wants everyone to know it
At the same time, Earlier this week the baseball cap-wearing boss of the super hero studio told Variety that it has been been given tips by the team behind The Creator, the 2023 sci-fi epic which earned an Oscar nomination for its visual effects even though it was reportedly made for a fraction of the cost of a Marvel movie
Furthermore, It has now come to light exactly how cheap it was
The Creator is set in a dystopian future where the western world is at war with New Asia, fictional region which is under the spell of a rogue artificial intelligence system
Furthermore, An ex-special forces agent played by Tenet’s John David Washington is recruited to bring an end to the battle by hunting down and killing the Creator, the elusive architect of the AI
Along the way he comes across a potential savior in the form of a child who can control electronics with her mind which eventually s the day
It was a breakout role for Madeleine Yuna Voyles, a then 7-year-old actress from San Diego who has yet to appear in other major ductions, considering recent developments
Furthermore, The most well-known members of the rest of the cast are perhaps Eternals actor Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, the Japanese star of The Last Samurai, and Ralph Ineson, who vides the motion capture for the villain in this month’s the Fantastic Four: First Steps, given current economic conditions
What the re reveals is Creator lacked a line up of big household names which helped its director Gareth Edwards keep costs down, in today's financial world. 'The Creator' was nominated for an Oscar for its low-budget visual effects © 2023 20th Century
All Rights Reserved. 20th Century Studios MORE FOR YOU The movie was also shot on the low-cost sumer Sony FX3 camera and instead of recreating locations with sets or costly computer generated imagery, Edwards sent a small crew to film in 80 locations using natural lighting and limited sound recording
Furthermore, There’s no need to speculate the impact this had on the cost
Moreover, Interior scenes and stuntwork for The Creator were shot at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom and this shines a spotlight on how much was spent on the movie, amid market uncertainty
The cost of making films in the United States is a closely-guarded secret as studios tend to combine their spending on individual pictures in their overall expenses and don’t itemize the budgets of each one (an important development)
In contrast, studios filming in the U
Benefit from its Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit which gives them a cash reimbursement of up to 25. 5% of the money they spend in the country
In contrast, To qualify for the reimbursement, movies must pass a points test based on factors such as how many of the lead actors are from the U (an important development)
And how much of the duction work is done there
Furthermore, Furthermore, at least 10% of their core costs need to relate to activities in the U
And in order to demonstrate this to the government, studios set up a separate Film duction Company (FPC) there for each picture
What the data shows is terms of the reimbursement state that each FPC must be "responsible for pre-duction, principal photography/shooting and post-duction of the film; and for dery of the film
Meanwhile, " In summary, the FPC's financial statements have to show the duction's entire costs, not just those incurred in the U
Meanwhile, Wise, studios aren't allowed to hide costs in other companies as the terms also state “there can only be one FPC in relation to a film (noteworthy indeed). ” Each FPC has to file annual financial statements which lift the curtain on everything from salaries and social security payments to the total cost of the duction and the level of reimbursement, in light of current trends
Furthermore, It takes a bit of detective work to get the information, amid market uncertainty
What the re reveals is companies usually have code names so they don’t raise attention with fans when filing permits to film on location
Additionally, Tallying the company names with the ductions they are responsible for requires deep industry knowledge which my colleague and I have built up over nearly 15 years reporting on the movie industry, in this volatile climate
We're the only journalists worldwide who specialize in covering the financial statements of U
Film duction companies for national media and we have reported on them for more than 10 leading titles including The Times of London, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and the London Evening Standard, in today's financial world
Moreover, The Creator was distributed by Disney-owned 20th Century Studios and the FPC behind it is named NeoAsia ductions after the renegade region which embraces AI in the movie
NeoAsia ductions is ultimately owned by billionaire Israeli man Arnon Milchan who was one of the ducers of the movie and founded the duction company Regency Enterprises which was also behind it along with Entertainment One
Milchan has been involved with more than 130 pictures including 12 Years a Slave, JFK, Heat, Fight and Mr
Additionally, The data indicates that Creator was one of the cheapest, amid market uncertainty
However, 'The Creator' was made for only a quarter of the budget of 'The Marvels'
Nevertheless, © 2023 20th Century (this bears monitoring)
More Studios, in today's market environment
However, All Rights Reserved, amid market uncertainty
Nevertheless, 20th Century Studios In 2023 Variety claimed that the movie cost $80 million to make and put it to Edwards
Moreover, "I’m a bit embarrassed it was $80 million," he responded (remarkable data). "We should’ve done it for less, in this volatile climate. " He wasn't exaggerating
There were two reasons why Edwards was embarrassed
Firstly, the financial statements for NeoAsia ductions reveal it is indeed correct that Edwards should have made the movie for less as they state that its "budget has been exceeded"
They also reveal that it cost more than $80 million to make
In contrast, Not much more though as the financial statements show total expenditure of $93 (an important development). 5 million (£75. 3 million) which was reduced by a $7
Additionally, 5 million (£6 million) reimbursement. ’s reimbursement is calculated on up to 80% of core expenditure so in order for a duction company to get back the maximum 25. 5% of the money it spends in the country, it needs to ensure that at least 20% of its core costs are incurred elsewhere
The Creator had no blem with this and amongst its many filming locations a good deal of principal photography took place in Thailand, in today's market environment
On the other hand, Nevertheless, There's no limit to the amount of reimbursement that a duction company can receive in the U
And that’s not all, in this volatile climate
In addition to claiming on direct spending in the U. , studios can also get a rata reimbursement on what are known as neutral costs throughout the duction such as insurance and payment to senior ducers, writers and directors
However, These costs can be claimed in portion to the amount of the activity in the U
So, for example, if the spending there represents 22% of the total budget then 22% of the neutral costs will also qualify for reimbursement
Accordingly, the level of reimbursement can rise close to a third of the total costs which is a blockbuster sum
The reimbursement received by NeoAsia ductions only represented around 8% of its total costs but this still brought the net expense down to just $86 million which is a tiny sum compared to similar movies made by other studios, in today's market environment
Testimony to this, two months after The Creator was released, Disney debuted its own sci-fi flick, The Marvels, which cost a massive $374 million (£307. 8 million) to make as this report revealed
It was precisely four times the sum spent on The Creator making it a much bigger gamble, even after a $66. 7 million (£54
Moreover, 9 million) reimbursement reduced its expenses to a net $307
Neither movie was particularly well-received
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shows that The Marvels earned 62% from critics and 79% from audiences whilst The Creator’s critics score was five percentage points higher and its rating from audiences was four percentage points lower, given current economic conditions
In contrast, The Marvels grossed $206. 1 million according to industry analyst Box Office Mojo whilst The Creator's tally came to just $104
Studios typically receive around 50% of the takings which left The Marvels with an estimated $204
Moreover, 3 million loss at the box office whilst The Creator was only $33. 9 million in the red (noteworthy indeed)
Furthermore, It's not a dream ticket but it makes it a lot easier for a film to make a fit in theaters and for Marvel that really is a whole new world
Editorial StandardsRes & PermissionsLOADING PLAYER (quite telling).
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