Thanks to Deadpool & Wolverine the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back on top when it comes to the box office. It’s the place that most Marvel movies have found themselves. However, the recent success comes following a string of stumbles. Two of the last three Marvel movies. Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels were flops, and surprisingly, we know just how big the bombs were.
We usually don't know how much movies cost to make. Studios don't release that information so if you see anybody claiming what a film's production budget was, it's usually little more than an educated guess. However, in the case of Quantumania and The Marvels we can say with near certainty that Disney lost $300 million in total on the two movies, all thanks to the fact they were made in the U.K.
Why We Know How Much The Marvels And Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Lost
We obviously know how much the Marvel movies made at the box office, but the reason we know how much Disney lost is that we have an accurate accounting of how much the films cost to make, $762.4 million together, according to Forbes. We have this info because both Quantumania and The Marvels were filmed in the U.K., and U.K. production rules require a strict accounting of costs that is not required in the U.S.
Marvel, and Disney generally, has been filming a lot more in the U.K., ever since Disney bought Lucasfilm and filmed, Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the historic Pinewood Studios.
This is because of a significant tax credit that films can take advantage of as long as 10% of the film’s total production costs are spent there. Thus the need for the strict accounting of costs. The credit can give a film up to a 25.5% of its production costs back, which is significant enough that it’s going to make it worthwhile for the studio to put up with the different accounting rules.
Even These Numbers Aren’t Perfect
With the numbers we have, the math becomes pretty easy. By taking the cost of the movie, and then subtracting out Disney’s share of the global box office take, and the amount they received in the U.K. tax credit, just under $125 million, you come to the $300 million number.
There is still some wiggle room in the amount the movies lost of course. The production costs don’t include the costs of marketing the film, and the income numbers don’t include any post-theatrical business from Blu-ray or streaming. As such, the movies actually cost a bit more, but also made a bit more money in total. Still, this is likely a far more accurate number than most movies.
Disney plans to produce more upcoming Disney+ TV series and upcoming Marvel movies in the U.K. This means we can expect to get this more detailed information. Disney likely hopes that the future numbers will detail massive profits, not losses.
