The 7 Most Original Movies That Cost $200 Million, Ranked
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As filmmaking continues to be a massive, multi-million dollar industry that dominates wider culture, it was only an inevitability for the biggest and most prominent worldwide releases to have massive budgets to compensate. While there will always be a selection of lower-budgeted films to choose from, many more films are crossing over the $200 million barrier than ever before. However, such a large investment also comes with some inherent risk, resulting in many of these high-budget films being a part of major franchises or adapting preexisting characters and intellectual property.
With so much more money on the line, it can be relatively limiting for these super expensive films to be super original with their storytelling or execution, making it all the more impactful when such an expensive film is a refreshing, original experience. Whether it be films that, while still using preexisting characters, reinvent them or imagine them in an entirely new way, or sprawling original worlds not based on any preexisting material, there is truly something special about an original film with the budget to back up its vision.
7
‘Tangled’ (2010)
Budget: $260 Million
From an initial glance, Tangled doesn’t exactly scream as a beacon of originality, as it not only adapts a classic fairy tale but is one in a long-standing history of Walt Disney Animation Studio’s adaptations of princess fairy tales. However, much like the Princess films of the past, Tangled completely reinvents and revitalizes the story to create one of its own. Even among the history of Disney princess films, Tangled subverts tradition and formula constantly, almost acting as a self-aware satire and deconstruction of Disney princess movies and their conventions.
Through its deeply relatable and compelling characters, as well as an overwhelming sense of charm and humor, Tangled helped redefine what a Disney princess film could truly be in the modern era, striking a chord with audiences worldwide and changing Disney’s approach forever. Many of the studio’s subsequent animated films, whether they be princess films or not, owe a lot of their strengths to the originality and impact of Tangled. The amazing animated film has continued to stand as a beacon of originality amidst Disney’s usual blockbuster affair, with said originality playing a major part in the film’s success and lasting appeal.
6
‘Tenet’ (2020)
Budget: $205 Million
Few blockbuster filmmakers have made such a standout name for themselves in terms of their originality as Christopher Nolan, who, even when adapting beloved characters like Batman, finds a way to strike originality in each of his works. However, the film that most directly combines the director’s inherent originality with a massive scale and budget is Tenet, which utilizes every cent to pull off an array of striking and mesmerizing time-dilation action sequences. While the film can be criticized for many different things, as it’s far from being Nolan’s most beloved film, one thing that can’t be said of the film is that it’s lacking in creativity or originality.
Tenet continuously finds new ways to build upon the excitement and possibilities of its central premise, creating a deeply engaging techno-thriller that keeps the audience on edge with its booming presence and enchanting perspective on time. One can even say that Tenet manages to be too original compared to Nolan’s other films, as the heightened spectacle and mind-melting nature of its central premise make it more difficult to keep track of and fully appreciate compared to his more traditional films. Still, the film has harbored a dedicated fanbase over the years, thanks greatly in part to the originality present within each aspect of its filmmaking.
5
‘Black Panther’ (2018)
Budget: $200 Million
One would assume that it would be nigh-impossible to find true originality within not just a film adaptation of a beloved comic book hero, but the 18th film in a sprawling extended universe and the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time. However, Black Panther not only soars to unparalleled heights for superhero films thanks to its originality, but it stands tall as a beacon of filmmaking vision and craft from Ryan Coogler. It’s one of the very few movies in the MCU that feels like a purposeful piece of filmmaking art first and a major franchise blockbuster second, telling an original and beautiful story while sticking to the inherent strengths of the character and the universe.
While Black Panther was already a wildly beloved action film when it was first released, its legacy and impact only continued to grow in the years following its release. As the MCU has faltered and stumbled in recent years thanks to repetition and unoriginality, the blissful and compelling originality of Black Panther sticks out that much more in contrast. From the entertaining action sequences that are still among the best in MCU history to a wide array of memorable characters, both heroes and villains alike, the film is a beacon of originality and strength in the superhero genre.
4
‘Titanic’ (1997)
Budget: $200 Million
Completely revolutionizing the disaster movie genre while also telling a beautiful, heartfelt romance that helped the film become the highest-grossing film of all time, Titanic is the quintessential high-budget original masterpiece. The film ironically ushered in a new era of expensive blockbuster filmmaking, being the first film to achieve a $200 million budget, utilizing its finances to the fullest to craft a beautiful achievement in filmmaking. Titanic’s reputation largely precedes itself, yet it’s easy to forget just how strikingly original the film was when it was first released, considering just how many films have followed in its footsteps over the years.
The film weaves together different tones and styles in its sprawling romantic epic as if it took no effort whatsoever, finding a perfect balance between love and pain in a story of timelessness and true humanity. It makes the absolute most out of the prospect of being a high-budgeted blockbuster, while at the same time not sacrificing an inkling of originality as it sticks to James Cameron‘s brilliant vision. It’s one of very few films that can widely be considered to be one of the most influential and important films of all time, with its legacy and impact only continuing to grow as time goes on.
3
‘King Kong’ (2005)
Budget: $207 Million
Beating Titanic‘s record for the most expensive film made just a short 8 years later, Peter Jackson‘s take on King Kong proved to be much more than just a simple remake of the Hollywood classic, reinventing the story for the modern era with a fully original spin. Its inherent originality and impact are similar to that of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, simultaneously having great respect for the originals while forging its own path thanks to a distinct and brilliant directorial vision. The film evolves and expands upon the baseline story of the original film to become the quintessential King Kong story, making great use of its budget for brilliant visual effects as well as captivating action and destruction.
While Kong as a character nowadays is more often associated with massive destruction and brainless blockbuster cinema, Jackson’s reinvention of the character found a brilliant balance between a sprawling, symbolic narrative and modern blockbuster destruction. It does a great job of having the best of both worlds, with its original take on the character proving to redefine how Kong as a character was seen by the public while also paying tribute to the classics of yesteryear.
2
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (2023)
Budget: $200 Million
Killers of the Flower Moon is one of the great symbols and examples of just how wild spending has gotten in the modern era of blockbuster filmmaking. It is still baffling that Martin Scorsese was given a budget of $200 million by Apple to create a powerful and self-reflective tale of systemic genocide and murder in an often overshadowed piece of American history. While many other high-budget blockbusters would utilize the budget for expensive CGI and an array of A-list stars, Scorsese utilizes one of his largest budgets ever to breathe life and soul into its beautiful yet harrowing depiction of 1920s Oklahoma. Even outside the visual flair, Scorsese makes a lot of impactful decisions that make the film a feat of modern original filmmaking, despite being adapted from a beloved novel.
Killers of the Flower Moon doesn’t shy away from the travesty and pain of the atrocities at the center of its story, acting as a bit of self-reflection on the crime thriller genre as a whole as it explores the gravitas of such widespread destruction. As opposed to many other crime films and even Scorsese’s previous films that glorify the figures at their center, Killers of the Flower Moon goes out of its way to paint those in the wrong as pure evil, even as they go largely unpunished. It’s a strikingly relevant and powerful original film that has grown a following as one of the defining cinematic achievements of the 2020s so far.
1
‘Avatar’ (2009)
Budget: $237 Million
Considering just how much intellectual property, sequels, and adaptations dominate the box office in the modern day, it still speaks volumes that the current highest-grossing film of all time is an original sci-fi blockbuster that pushed filmmaking forward with its very existence. While many still underplay James Cameron’s Avatar for a myriad of reasons, its striking presence as an original blockbuster epic that thrived even in an era of IP domination is deserving of respect. It still stands as a defining beacon of blockbuster originality over 15 years after its release, with its long-awaited sequels similarly becoming massive successes thanks to the originality of the franchise as a whole.
Many different aspects come together to amplify the originality and impact of Avatar as a blockbuster, yet most importantly, its high budget and originality largely go hand-in-hand. A lot of the film’s greatest strengths come from the awe-inspiring visuals that still hold up to this day and have forever changed the industry with its approach to CGI characters, MOCAP, and landscapes. The film simply wouldn’t have nearly as much of an impact if it didn’t have these high-budget visuals and awe factor, with the originality of its world and mythos further being amplified by the beauty and grace of what is on-screen. As reboots, sequels, and remakes continue to be released again and again, Avatar stands as proof that a truly original idea can still find great success with modern audiences.
Avatar
- Release Date
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December 15, 2009
- Runtime
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162 minutes
- Director
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James Cameron
- Writers
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James Cameron
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