Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is the upcoming magnum opus in the realm of DCU. With James Wan reprising his role in directing the movie, Aquaman 2 is speculated to make quite a bit of money at the box office.
However, a CGI-intensive movie like Aquaman 2 has also cost the studio dearly. With a budget of $205 million, Jason Momoa’s film joins the top 5 costliest DC projects ever. There are, however, 4 other projects at the DCU or DCEU that were more costlier than Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom!
1) Man of Steel – DCEU
Being one of the first-ever projects created by Zack Snyder in the DCEU, Man of Steel depicted the story of Henry Cavill’s Superman in the DCEU. With General Zod as the villain, Man of Steel became quite a controversial film with its ending.
Ranking on the 4th costliest DCEU project, the Henry Cavill starrer cost Warner Bros. and the DCEU a whopping $225 million to make! This budget was however quickly covered up with a box office collection of $668 million.
2) The Dark Knight Rises
Back in 2012, Christopher Nolan outdid himself with the release of The Dark Knight Rises. With Gotham City in chaos and Christian Bale being the only hope for Gotham, the movie had quite a cast to work with. Having Tom Hardy as the villain alongside Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, The Dark Knight Rises followed several stories in a single movie.
With a budget of $230 million, this DC project became the third costliest. The difference in budget and box office was very evident since The Dark Knight Rises earned a whopping $1.08 billion at the global box office!
3) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – DCEU
With a civil war at hand, Ben Affleck donned the cape of the vigilante of Gotham City against Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel in the 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Depicting the story of Lex Luthor turning Superman against Batman, the movie had some incredible CGI effects and massive storytelling.
Gal Gadot also had a small role as Wonder Woman throughout the movie and thus, the 2016 film was quite heavy on the pockets. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was made with a record-breaking amount of $263 million! Although the film received negative reviews and criticism from around the world, it managed to earn $873.6 million at the global box office, making it the second-costliest DC project ever.
4) Justice League – DCEU
Well…this one will hurt quite a lot. Zack Snyder started working on Justice League quite a while back but had to step back due to personal tragedy. With Joss Whedon taking over the project, the film was a disaster for DC fans as it was hailed as one of the worst DC movies ever made.
With an extensive cast that included multiple talents, intensive CGI fight scenes, and an overall dramatic experience, Justice League was made with a whopping $300 million! The film earned negative reviews from all over the world but managed to earn $661 million at the global box office making it, the costliest DC project ever!
As for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the Jason Momoa-starrer is currently set for a release date of 22nd December 2023 in theaters across the U.S.
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