Star Wars and the MCU are mega franchises. In the MCU, Avengers: Endgame was a movie like no other. It concluded the Infinity Saga storyline of Kevin Feige’s superhero universe and gave a definite ending to the character arcs of Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and Steve Rogers. The hype for the film was felt internationally and the box office results accurately reflected that.
While Endgame marked the end of an MCU arc, Star Wars: The Force Awakens marked the beginning of a new era of storytelling. Fans of the galaxy far far away were excited for a new chapter to begin and the box office collection showed that hype. But it can’t be denied that one of these films was more profitable than the other. Not just due to the box office collections, but also because one’s budget was significantly lesser than the other.
Budget Comparison- Avengers: Endgame vs. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Avengers: Endgame, the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War was made on a budget of $356 million. It grossed $357 million in its first weekend alone and then went on to make $2.798 billion globally. From July 2019 until March 2021, it held the title of the highest-grossing film ever. Then it was dethroned by the re-release of Avatar. The production scale of the film justified the huge budget numbers.
After all, the movie showed the various Avengers coming together to fight Thanos’ army in a CGI extravaganza. As such, one would be forgiven for mistakenly assuming that it’s the most expensive movie ever made. But the budget for Endgame is lower than that of the first film in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens had a budget of $447 million and it utilized every cent of it to introduce new characters like Rey, Finn, and Poe in extravagant action scenes. The film marked the return of Star Wars films to theaters after a long time and fans showered it with love and money. The movie grossed more than $2 billion and gave a great start to the Sequel Trilogy. But this isn’t the only Star Wars film that had a bigger budget than Avengers: Endgame.
Avengers: Endgame Cost Less Than Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The Sequel Trilogy didn’t start with universal acclaim. However, fans hoped that at least it would end on the right foot with The Rise of Skywalker. The film had a massive budget of $416 million and part of the reason for those whopping numbers was Lucasfilm having to overhaul the creative team after the departure of Colin Trevorrow. Even then, it was $60 million more expensive than Avengers: Endgame’s budget.
The movie was showered with negative reviews from critics and fans alike. To this day, The Rise of Skywalker is seen by fans as the worst entry in the Sequel Trilogy of films. For some, it’s the worst film in the entire Star Wars Franchise. However, there’s a chance these issues will get corrected in the upcoming Star Wars film set to post the Sequel Trilogy. It will see Rey trying to rebuild the Jedi Order again. It will be interesting to know what budget Kathleen Kennedy’s Lucasfilm allocates for that project.
Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is available on Disney+.
Source: Movieweb
