A new financial analysis has identified Universal’s action-adventure film, “Jurassic World: Dominion,” as the most expensive movie ever made, with production costs of about $658.8 million. The figure was reported by Fortune, based on financial filings submitted in Britain, and places the film above the previous record-holder, Disney’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which cost about $638.9 million at the end of 2015.
The revelation was possible because the film was produced through a local British company, which was required to file detailed accounts to qualify for government tax rebates. In the United States, such production costs are usually kept out of public view. The main reason the budget ballooned was the COVID-19 pandemic: filming began in 2020, and the production had to operate under extensive safety rules, testing, and quarantines.
The shutdowns also pushed the movie’s release back by a full year, to June 2022. During the downtime, Universal kept paying for studio space, rented equipment, security, and key crew members who had to remain available for the restart. The star cast, including Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern, spent long quarantine periods in luxury hotels near the UK filming sites, especially the Langley hotel in Buckinghamshire, where rooms cost more than $600 a night.
Despite the enormous budget, Universal received generous British tax incentives. The filings show the studio got about $127.8 million back through the UK film and television relief program, bringing its net spend to roughly $531 million. The film went on to gross just over $1 billion worldwide, but because theaters and studios split box-office revenue, ticket sales alone did not cover the full cost. Its eventual profitability also depended on digital sales, home entertainment releases, and merchandising.
