Marvel says the budget for Doctor Strange 2 was far higher than expected

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With a production budget that soared to an astounding $414.9 million (£331.9 million), Disney recently disclosed that the 2022 superhero film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now one of the most expensive projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It even surpassed the budget of the ensemble film Avengers: Age of Ultron. According to reports, the budget information was disclosed in documents that were made public earlier this week. It showed that, although Avengers: Age of Ultron had 6.4% fewer costs than Multiverse of Madness, its box office receipts were tripled. After a £51.4 million ($64.3 million) refund from the UK government, the final cost of $414.9 million was paid by Disney, bringing its total spending on Multiverse of Madness down to $350.6 million.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a follow-up to 2016’s Doctor Strange, in which Benedict Cumberbatch plays the title sorcerer who sets out to stop Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch from kidnapping a young girl who has the ability to traverse between dimensions. It also established the multiverse narrative style, which made it easier for Marvel characters from other studios to cross over in crossover events. The movie functioned as the cornerstone of the MCU’s Phase Four. Disney introduced the character Mister Fantastic in Multiverse of Madness. John Krasinski played the role of Mister Fantastic, while Patrick Stewart played Professor X. Both actors are well-known from their roles in the X-Men and Fantastic Four series at 20th Century Fox. Reaching this goal required a larger budget.

Main studios usually keep their movie costs hidden and highly guarded. Nonetheless, there are certain exceptions, such as Multiverse of Madness, which was filmed in the United Kingdom. A Disney company called Supreme Works Productions II produced the movie, paying reference to Doctor Strange’s moniker as the ultimate sorcerer. The government’s “Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit,” which offers a financial return of up to 25.5% for films made in the UK, is advantageous to studios filming there. Films must pass a point-based evaluation process in order to qualify. This evaluation takes into account many aspects, including the amount of UK production, the representation of UK elements, UK-based score recordings, and the percentage of UK talent in important positions. Disney CEO Bob Iger said he had “been working hard with the studio to reduce output and focus more on quality” in a recent statement to analysts. Iger said that when it comes to the MCU, “we’re slowly going to decrease volume and go to probably about two TV series a year instead of what had become four, and reduce our film output from maybe four a year to two, at the maximum three.”