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

"Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania," an action released in 2023, was directed by Peyton Reed and stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly. The production budget was $200,000,000, placing it in the blockbuster 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: Jonathan Majors was cast in September 2020 in a "lead role" for the film, which was reported to be Kang the Conqueror.

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

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

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 Quantumania's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $200,000,000, Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania sits in the blockbuster range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

2012 (2009): Budget $200,000,000, Worldwide Gross $791,217,826
Alice in Wonderland (2010): Budget $200,000,000, Worldwide Gross $1,025,467,110
The Dark Knight (2008): Budget $185,000,000, Worldwide Gross $1,004,558,444
47 Ronin (2013): Budget $175,000,000, Worldwide Gross $151,783,839
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016): Budget $170,000,000, Worldwide Gross $299,457,024

The median budget for wide-release action films in the 2020s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania Box Office Performance

"Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania" earned $214,503,030 domestically and $476,071,180 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $200,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania," that break-even threshold was roughly $400,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $476,071,180, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $200,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $476,071,180
Net Return: $276,071,180
ROI: approximately 138%

At 138%, "Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania" earned roughly $2.38 for every $1 invested in production.

Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania Production History

Principal photography began on July 26, 2021, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, using the working title Dust Bunny, with Bill Pope serving as cinematographer. Industrial Light & Magic provided the same StageCraft virtual production technology Reed used while directing episodes of the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. Will Htay served as the production designer.

Christophe Beck was revealed to be composing the score by July 2022, after previously working on the previous two Ant-Man films, as well as the MCU Disney+ series WandaVision and Hawkeye (both in 2021). The soundtrack album was released digitally by Hollywood Records and Marvel Music on February 15, 2023, with its first track, "Theme from Quantumania", released as a digital single on February 12.

Awards and Recognition

14 nominations total

Critical Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 46% with an average rating of 5.5/10, based on 410 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania mostly lacks the spark of fun that elevated earlier adventures, but Jonathan Majors' Kang is a thrilling villain poised to alter the course of the MCU." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 61 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.