Some fans got to see Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson meeting Harrison Ford’s President Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America 4 at San Diego Comic-Con. However, the reports coming out from the film are not good news for Kevin Feige or Marvel. The film reportedly spent a budget of $350-$375 million. The inflated budget comes after the extensive reshoots that were ordered after the film received terrible scores during test screening.
In the film titled Brave New World, Sam Wilson looks to become a worthy successor of Steve Rogers, donning the Captain America mantle. Besides Ford and Mackie, the film will also star Liv Tyler, Shira Haas, Tim Blake Nelson, Carl Lumbly, and Danny Ramirez.
Harrison Ford’s Captain America 4 Has Avengers-Level Budget
Julius Onah made a name for himself with critically acclaimed films like The Cloverfield Paradox and Luce, the latter of which featured at the 2019 Sundance Festival. However, he is clearly struggling to adapt when pulled into the Marvel scheme of things. Onah’s film, Captain America: Brave New World was earlier delayed to February 2025 due to extensive reshoots.
Before Harrison Ford and Anthony Mackie came back for the reshoots, the budget of this Marvel feature was already a whopping $275 million. The new reports coming from World of Reel suggest that Disney put in a crazy amount of anywhere between $75 million and $100 million for the reshoots. The final budget will, therefore, reach the $350-$375 million mark.
For comparison, it is almost the same budget as that of Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame, both star-studded Marvel features. It is highly doubtful whether Mackie’s new Cap or Ford’s involvement as Red Hulk could bring fans rushing into the theaters. In the current scenario, a billion or two in box office returns is a distant dream for a Marvel feature, with the exception of Deadpool & Wolverine.
Dalan Musson and Malcolm Spellman wrote the earlier drafts of the film, but their screenplay received negative scores during test screening. Matthew Orton, who wrote an episode of Moon Knight, was brought in to pen additional material. According to World of Reel, Orton scrapped Musson and Spellman’s big chunk of screenplay and rewrote some important scenes.
Fans fear that the film is heading for a catastrophic disaster. All these troubles including the reshoots and the inflated budget are not painting a great picture for the film.
Fans Don’t Think Captain America 4 Can Make Any Profit
Fans on X were not happy with the budget of Captain America: Brave New World. One fan shared that the film couldn’t possibly make any profit with this kind of massive budget. Another fan blamed the studio for such an inflated budget. One fan calculated that the film would need to do a business of $1 billion at the box office to break even.
One fan shared that the budget was not surprising, considering the constant reshoots. The fan deemed it a waste of money as the end product might not be that good to recoup the budget and make a profit. Another fan also agreed, sharing that $350 million was a lot of money to lose. Some of the fan reactions read:
No way it makes a profit with that kind of budget pic.twitter.com/Mx6ldv03i0
— Ron Oliver (@RPOIII) June 27, 2024
And studios wonder why their films don’t profit! 🤦🏾♂️
— K. L. Spencer (@KevinSpencer205) June 27, 2024
Omg.. they need to do $1B just to barely breakeven.. pic.twitter.com/beYGsj0Xrd
— Box Office Forecast 🎬 (@BoxOfficeFcst) June 27, 2024
That’s seriously not okay
— ES 🌙 (@dinmurdock) June 27, 2024
With constant re shoots, no surprise. And the amount of waste as a result that led to this number. Even with all the rushing, this feels it’s been in production for years. VFX departments were probably still treated terrible for effects that won’t even look good.
— Jared (@TheShiftingBlog) June 27, 2024
That’s a lot of money to lose. Shit is about the o be trash 🗑️
— 2PROTECTS1 (@2Protects_1) June 27, 2024
At the San Diego Comic-Con in April, Kevin Feige appeared confident about the movie as he compared the film with one of the best Marvel movies out there. Feige shared that fans still talk about Captain America: The Winter Soldier because it is a “relatively grounded action thriller” (via THR). He believed that the upcoming movie would also follow along the lines of the Russo brothers’ 2014 flick.
Captain America: Brave New World is scheduled to be released on February 14, 2025.
