Just something to quickly add about Alex Garland’s “Civil War.” The film’s production budget was $75M. It’s the most expensive A24 movie ever made and one that will have the kind of nationwide distribution none of their films previously had before. They’re banking hard on it.
Of course, you must be wondering, why bet big on Alex Garland? His last film (“Men”) was a bust. Well, it’s quite simple, really. Garland’s project was the beneficiary of good timing — it got greenlit when A24 was starting to rebrand by expanding their bottom line strategy from “arthouse films” to “action and big IP projects.
Look out for budgets on A24 projects to continue to climb in the next few years. Already this year, “Beau is Afraid” was touted as their most expensive movie ever with a budget of $35 million. “Civil War” is more than double that.
A recent report from The Wrap touted the reason for this change at A24 was due to the company taking a financial “beating” with their last few projects. “The auteur business is a lousy, high-risk business that does not attract potential buyers,” a top agent told The Wrap. “That’s a big problem if you’re looking to sell or seek additional investment.”