Despite having some of the biggest budgets in Hollywood to work with, James Gunn has revealed that even with the might of Marvel behind him, his grand visions of what he wants to see on screen put a strain on the money pot he has to work with on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. According to the director, if he had his way and could put everything into it that he wanted, the film would cost Marvel around half a billion dollars to make. We know that Marvel likes to splash the cash when it comes to their blockbuster cinematic movies, but even for them, that would be a bit of an ask.
Speaking in a new interview with Collider, Gunn obviously discussed his work on the upcoming Marvel movie and admitted that having a budget that doesn’t give him everything he wants helps to keep him from getting too lost in what he wants to see on screen and focused on what needs to be there to make the film as tight as possible in terms of story and scope. He said:
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Will Be The End of an Era For James Gunn
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Although James Gunn may not be getting the phenomenal $500 million budget he would like in another branch of the multiverse, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will likely have a budget of around $200 million when all is said and done, which may fall short of huge crossover movies like Avengers: Endgame, but is still at the high end of the Marvel range. With the film expected to be the last with Gunn at the helm, and acting as a farewell to some long-standing characters, there is little doubt that the film will be another huge hit when it arrives next year.
“I innately think about budget while I’m writing, always. Even something as big budgeted as (GOTG) Volume 3 is still a struggle. You know, it’s still a struggle to make it fit the budget because you want a movie to be half a billion dollars. If I had half a billion dollars, I could kind of do pretty close to what I want. That’s how hard it is. I’m always having to think about budget and make concessions because of budget, but oftentimes it leads to good things. You oftentimes are forced to rethink something and you have to come up with a creative solution.”
In the meantime, Guardians fans can look forward to the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special this Christmas, which Gunn has stressed will be essential viewing on Disney+ ahead of the third Guardians movie release, and the new “shorts” series of I Am Groot, a new animation based on everyone’s favorite plant-based member of the team. While there is little known about any of these upcoming shows, or indeed the movie, a number of characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy series will first been seen again in Thor: Love and Thunder, after which we may have a better idea of where the third Guardians movie will be heading.
