Star Wars has officially been dethroned as the most expensive movie of all time, with Jurassic World Dominion taking the top spot. At a total of $658.8 million, the 2022 Jurassic World movie left behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which held the record for 11 years. The costs of Jurassic World Dominion ballooned due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted production and forced Universal to cover expenses. The movie's $465 million production budget, not including marketing and other expenses, was already extremely high. Based on industry standards, Jurassic World Dominion needed to finish its theatrical run with a box office total between $930 million and $1.162 billion to break even. Despite breaking the $1 billion mark, Jurassic World Dominion's new standing as the most expensive movie ever is a complicated matter, as it is not among the top 50 movies on the box office list. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which began the Star Wars sequel trilogy, had a reported production budget of $245 million and needed to finish its global run in the $490 million to $612.5 million range. However, it went on to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, currently ranking 6th on that list with a stellar $2.07 billion total. The fact that Star Wars was the previous record-holder for most expensive movie of all time, all while standing close to the top of the highest-grossing list, helped balance it out. The success of Jurassic World Dominion, despite its high costs and pandemic-related challenges, marks a significant shift in the movie industry, highlighting the evolving dynamics between production budgets, marketing expenses, and box office performance.
