Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is the Only Big-Budget Film in 2023 Turned a Profit

In 2023, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stands out as the sole big-budget movie to turn a profit. Even though many of the major big releases for the year had budgets exceeding $200 million, only Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 made a profit. A total of 14 movies with budgets of $200 million or more were released in 2023, including The Little Mermaid, The Flash, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, The Marvels, and others.

Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is considered the third and final film in the trilogy. With a budget of $250 million, the movie earned $845 million, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. This success is notable as it contrasts the struggle faced by other big-budget films. The increasing challenges faced by big-budget movies are evident in comparison to the success of smaller-budget films. For instance, Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Oppenheimer became the three highest-grossing films of 2023, despite having budgets under $150 million.

The success of these movies is attributed to factors such as being standalone works not part of an existing franchise and interest from the audience. On the other hand, Marvel's two other releases from 2023, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania and The Marvels have faced challenges in breaking even.

Overall, the struggles faced by big-budget movies deserve particular attention. The stark disparity in the performance of big-budget versus smaller-budget films indicates a need for Hollywood to address the evolving film industry dynamics to avoid further financial setbacks.

You can read more on IndieWiri and don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.