Pocket watching is one of the most tedious practices to befall the film industry, but fans aren’t getting any less curious about movie budgets and studio spending habits. In an era of blockbuster bloat filled with films that don’t look nearly as expensive as they actually are, that fascination makes a lot of sense. Apart from the blurring of lines between fandom and punditry, fans do want to see quality reflected on-screen. A big-budget failure could mean the end of a juggernaut as everyone knows it, as Lucasfilm’s Star Wars saga has spent the last seven years proving.
Star Wars’ modern era kicked off with spectacle and scale, but that also precluded ever-expanding budgets. When the films were successful and effortlessly recouping their costs, all was right with the world. But things changed with Solo: A Star Wars Story. Filmed on a budget of $275 million, it would have had to make around $600 million to recoup its cost. Though it technically broke even, grossing over $390 million, it’s regarded now as a box office flop. And even if the Star Wars saga bounced back with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019 — which cost as much as Solo but grossed $1 billion — Lucasfilm hasn’t taken any chances since.
