How the fuck can they spend 300 million on a film like that... I know there's inflation and that, but I still remember when 200 million was, like, an enormous budget for a blockbuster. But 300 million, my god...
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
I love Harrison but one of the biggest issues is definitely how much they pay on screen talent. And by that I mean the stars only (because regular working actors don't make a lot either). In a cinematic environment where studios believe IPs are what makes money, they still give exorbitant amounts to stars. I love the star based movies of the 80s and 90s but that time passed and even if it hadn't the disperity between low level crew/cast and the stars is still too big.
You can't look at CGI to cut costs because they already are severely underpaid. But it can't be that a star makes 30 or even 50 million and that's the same budget for the entire CGI team.
Second thing are mandatory reshoots. Reshoots used to be a rarity in Hollywood, and you knew a movie had serious issues when they happened. Now they're planning for reshoots because they listen too much to test screenings.
Finally, I think the budgets are overblown for creative accounting purposes to pay as little residuals as possible. When they report that Indy 5 cost 300 million it probably didn't. But that's the official number.
You can't look at CGI to cut costs because they already are severely underpaid. But it can't be that a star makes 30 or even 50 million and that's the same budget for the entire CGI team.
Second thing are mandatory reshoots. Reshoots used to be a rarity in Hollywood, and you knew a movie had serious issues when they happened. Now they're planning for reshoots because they listen too much to test screenings.
Finally, I think the budgets are overblown for creative accounting purposes to pay as little residuals as possible. When they report that Indy 5 cost 300 million it probably didn't. But that's the official number.
As this guy (clone of Vader??? ) says in the video, Michael Bay's $40M movie looks more expensive than the current crop of action movies. *cough*The Gray Man*cough*
Could it have been the delays that inflated the budget?