X-Men
may have been a very early entry in Marvel’s movie ventures, but even after 25 years, the movie is surprisingly more of a success than many of the latest billion-dollar blockbusters. While DC was hitting home runs with its films from the late 1970s, and it continued to lead the way into the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, Marvel has since taken the lead by a significant margin. Just in terms of sheer numbers, over the course of the MCU alone, which only began releasing movies in 2008, Marvel Studios has racked up well over $31 billion (via The Numbers). That’s nearly a billion per movie.
However, while superhero films have continued to become a much larger part of the film industry, racking up billions of dollars and dominating the franchise spaces, one of Marvel’s earliest cinematic efforts has stood the test of time, and managed to come out ahead. When looking at every movie Marvel has ever produced, X-Men, the 2000 film from 20th Century Fox, competes with some of the biggest тιтles in one significant way.
X-Men’s Box Office Results Vs Cost Holds Up Impressively 25 Years After Its Debut
Despite A Lower Total Box Office, X-Men Was A Relative Hit
While most film budgets in 2000 were in the tens of millions, there were standout movies like тιтanic that commanded hundreds of millions in order to be made. However, Fox committed the healthy sum of $75 million towards the production budget of the X-Men movie. And upon its release, the movie generated a promising sum that was just shy of $300 million. Now, while the MCU’s lowest-performing movie, The Marvels, only managed to generate just under $200 million, X-Men cost a little over one quarter of that movie’s entire production budget to make (via The Numbers).
This cost versus box office total figure is actually a lot more impressive than many of the other movies on the list, because while X-Men managed to earn four times its entire budget at the box office, some of the biggest recent entries cost well over that total box office sum to make, and often this leads to a return of roughly double or triple the budget. But quadrupling that figure is a rare occurrence, especially with the latest slate of movies released in the Multiverse Saga.
Why X-Men’s Cost Vs Its Box Office Holds Up So Well Compared To Other Superhero Movies
Superhero Movies Have Gotten Insanely Expensive Over The Last 25 Years
Today, there has not been a single MCU movie made with a budget of less than $130 million. Both Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp were made on that budget, and the fact is that both of those movies are largely more grounded with a heist narrative taking up the biggest portion of the plot and a few growing and shrinking effects thrown in throughout for good measure. Even the first entry in the MCU, Iron Man, was made on a budget of $185 million, which is well over double the budget for X-Men.
Iron Man roughly tripled its budget, while both Ant-Man тιтles earned a little under five times their budget. But it is not uncommon for many Marvel тιтles to be made for $200 million, or big crossover тιтles like Avengers: Infinity War to cost $300 million, while Avengers: Endgame cost $400 million to make. Again, both of these тιтles earned well over five times their budget, but putting it in context, X-Men fares surprisingly well against these blockbuster films despite being well under the $100 million budget that is standard today.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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