What is the budget of Ant-Man and the Wasp?

"Ant-Man and the Wasp," an action released in 2018, was directed by Peyton Reed and stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly. The production budget was $140,000,000, placing it in the high-budget range for action productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for an action production like this include:

Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects: Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
Production Design, Sets & Locations: Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment , all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
Pre-Production: At the start of November 2016, Reed said that the film's production would transition from "the writing phase" to "official prep" that month, beginning with visual development.

What were the major cost factors in Ant-Man and the Wasp?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.

How Does Ant-Man and the Wasp's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $140,000,000, Ant-Man and the Wasp sits in the high-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

6 Underground (2019): Budget $150,000,000
After Earth (2013): Budget $130,000,000, Worldwide Gross $243,843,127
Angels & Demons (2009): Budget $150,000,000, Worldwide Gross $485,930,816
Ant-Man (2015): Budget $130,000,000, Worldwide Gross $519,311,965
Alexander (2004): Budget $155,000,000, Worldwide Gross $167,298,192

The median budget for wide-release action films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Box Office Performance

"Ant-Man and the Wasp" earned $216,648,740 domestically and $622,674,139 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $140,000,000, the film performed strongly at the box office.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Ant-Man and the Wasp," that break-even threshold was roughly $280,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $622,674,139, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $140,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $622,674,139
Net Return: $482,674,139
ROI: approximately 344.8%

At 344.8%, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" earned roughly $4.45 for every $1 invested in production.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Production History

Principal photography began on August 1, 2017, Filming also took place in Metro Atlanta, with filming locations including the Atlanta International School, the Midtown and Buckhead districts of Atlanta, and the Samuel M. Inman Middle School in the city's Virginia-Highland neighborhood; as well as Emory University and the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Additional filming took place in San Francisco in September 2017, in Savannah, Georgia in late October, and in Hawaii.

In June 2017, Reed confirmed that Christophe Beck, who composed the score for Ant-Man, would return for Ant-Man and the Wasp. Beck reprised his main theme from Ant-Man, and also wrote a new one for Wasp that he wanted to be "high energy" and show that she is more certain of her abilities than Lang. When choosing between these themes for specific scenes throughout the film, Beck tried to choose the Wasp theme more often so there would be "enough newness in the score to feel like it's going new places, and isn't just some retread." Hollywood Records and Marvel Music released the soundtrack album digitally on July 6, 2018..

Awards and Recognition

2 wins & 21 nominations total

Critical Reception

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "A lighter, brighter superhero movie powered by the effortless charisma of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, Ant-Man and The Wasp offers a much-needed MCU palate cleanser." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 56 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, down from the "A" earned by the first film.