Star Wars: The Force Awakens Dethroned as Most Expensive Movie of All Time (By a Movie No One Likes)

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Studios don’t always want their movies labeled as the most expensive ever made. While some high-budget films become huge hits and earn back their costs – and then some – just as many turn into massive failures. A prime example is Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which cost a reported $379 million to make. Despite earning over a billion dollars, many fans consider it the weakest entry in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

As a huge movie buff, I always thought Star Wars: The Force Awakens was the most expensive film ever made – clocking in at over $638.9 million! But apparently, a new report shows that title now belongs to 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion. What’s really surprising – and a little sad – is that while The Force Awakens is a beloved classic, Jurassic World Dominion hasn’t been nearly as well-received. In fact, it’s the lowest-rated Jurassic film by a significant margin – a full twenty points lower on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a pretty big deal.

Jurassic World: Dominion Becomes the Most Expensive Movie Ever Made

I just read a new report from Fortune and I was shocked! Apparently, Jurassic World: Dominion is officially the most expensive movie ever made – even more so than Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Universal Pictures’ recent financial statement revealed it cost a whopping $658.8 million to make, which is almost $20 million more than The Force Awakens! It’s an incredible amount of money, but the report suggests there’s a good reason why it cost so much.

Filming for Jurassic World: Dominion started in February 2020, right as the COVID-19 pandemic began, which immediately presented challenges. Although production was temporarily halted in March, it eventually resumed that summer. This led to a significantly increased budget for the film, as the production had to implement new and evolving safety measures on set before a vaccine was available.

The financial difficulties went beyond just the filming shutdown. The production still had to cover ongoing costs like studio rental, equipment, and salaries for essential crew members. Plus, housing the entire cast of Jurassic World Dominion – including stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill – became very expensive, as they were all staying in a hotel costing $600 per night.

It’s not surprising that Jurassic World: Dominion cost so much to make, given the challenges of filming during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the final price tag is still quite high, particularly considering the film wasn’t well-received by audiences.

Currently, Jurassic World: Dominion isn’t doing well with critics – it has a 28% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This makes it significantly less popular than even the previous lowest-rated film in the series, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and overall the least liked movie of all the Jurassic Park/World films. Even fans generally consider it to be one of the worst installments. Many viewers are disappointed because the main story focuses on genetically modified locusts rather than dinosaurs or the consequences of them being loose in the world.

As a huge movie fan, I was shocked to learn that Jurassic World: Dominion wasn’t a total financial disaster, especially considering it’s the most expensive film ever made! It turns out Universal got a massive boost from UK tax incentives – they filmed a lot there, and that’s actually why we even know how much money was involved. The UK government reimbursed them over $120 million, bringing the total cost down to around $531 million. When you add in revenue from things like DVD sales, streaming, and all the merchandise, the movie actually made a little bit of profit, which is pretty incredible considering the initial investment.

The Jurassic story didn’t stop with Dominion, and Universal Pictures seems to have taken note of the high production costs. The next film, Jurassic World Rebirth (2025), cost almost a third less to make – Fortune reported a budget of $254.2 million. While Rebirth earned less at the box office than the other Jurassic World films, it still brought in over $850 million worldwide, which was enough to convince the studio to start working on another sequel.

Now that Jurassic World: Dominion holds the record, the big question is: when will another movie surpass it? Star Wars: The Force Awakens took the title from Pirates of the Caribbean and held it for over ten years. Looking ahead, two Marvel films – Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars – seem likely to challenge the record, as both are expected to have massive budgets costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

It might take a few years to find out the final budgets for those two films. However, because they’re both being filmed in the UK, production costs will have to be revealed to receive certain tax benefits. As of right now, Jurassic World Dominion remains the biggest blockbuster.

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2026-06-17 22:40