While we were at Comic-Con over the weekend, a Hollywood insider filled in Cosmic Book News that both James Gunn’s Superman and Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps have blown past their reported budgets, with each now costing over $350 million—far above the widely circulated figure of around $200M-$225M.
According to the source, the ballooning costs were mainly due to extensive reshoots for both films.
Update: Forbes confirms what we have said.
Superman Reshoots Drove Budget Up?
In Gunn’s Superman, from what we are told, one sequence reportedly involved a scene where Clark Kent yells at Lois Lane for over ten minutes, something we are told test audiences absolutely hated.
Gunn also acknowledged that test audiences disliked the now-infamous squirrel scene, but he kept it in anyway.
Previous reports have echoed the same, noting that the original composer was fired and the film’s marketing strategy was completely overhauled. It has been said that Gunn cut 25 minutes from the film.
Break-even a lot higher
If Gunn’s Superman budget is really north of $350 million—which, interestingly, lines up with the Cleveland, Ohio tax document Gunn previously dismissed—that would put the film’s break-even point at over a massive $875 million, based on the industry standard of needing 2.5x the budget to turn a profit. That’s a lot higher than the 2.5x for a $225M budget, which is only $562.5M.
Fantastic Four Changed Its Beginning and Ending After Early Cut?
As for Fantastic Four, reports have said the ending may have been changed—and we already know the beginning was, as the director confirmed John Malkovich’s role was cut. Everyone I spoke to at Comic-Con agreed that cutting Malkovich was a mistake and that he should’ve stayed in the film.
The insider revealed that the original ending was much darker, with Galactus destroying Earth, and tied to the multiverse. That version appears to have been scrapped in favor of a “safer” conclusion, which matches recent leaks and rumors and moves away from the multiverse angle. Last year at Comic-Con, the darker version was already being discussed, including word we were told that the Female Silver Surfer would die and that the FF escape their universe and end up in the 616, as teased in the Thunderbolts post-credit scene. In the final theatrical cut, however, the Female Silver Surfer survives—and Galactus doesn’t destroy anything, surviving, as well.
The reshoots also added Julia Garner’s human form as Shalla-Bal, which matches recent plot leaks and test screening reports.
Like Superman, if Fantastic Four really cost over $350 million, it would also need to make $875 million or more just to break even by industry standards.
