Marvel Studios is gearing up for the release of Captain America: Brave New World, but early revelations about its runtime and budget are raising eyebrows across the industry.
Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America in Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. ©: Nosferatu Wins Big at Critics Association Awards – Is Bill Skarsgård the World’s Next Horror Film Icon?
At just 118 minutes long, this film will be the shortest Captain America movie to date, yet its budget has reportedly ballooned to a staggering $350 million—which means that it costs a jaw-dropping $2.9 million per minute of runtime.
The $350 million figure is a low-end projection, with some outlets believing the latest MCU project could even get up to production costs of $375 million. That high-end figure would put the per-minute cost of this film up to $3.1 million.
For context, here’s how Brave New World stacks up against its predecessors in both length and cost-per-minute:
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011): 124 minutes Long with a $140 million budget = $1.1 million per minute
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014): 136 minutes long with a $170 million budget = $1.2 million/minute
Captain America: Civil War (2016): 148 minutes long with a $250 million budget = $1.6 million/minute
It’s wild to note that the film actually surpasses Civil War—a nearly two and a half hour blockbuster featuring an ensemble Avengers cast, including Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson, in budget and cost per minute.
Brave New World has been plagued by reports of numerous rewrites and reshoots, contributing to its inflated budget. With reshoots and marketing, it’s estimated that the total cost of the film could approach $500 million. That means the film will have to make somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 billion to make a profit.
Given this, it’s no surprise that fans are questioning how Marvel can justify such lavish expenditures.
Compounding matter, buzz for the movie is tepid at best. Early box office projections estimate an opening weekend haul of $96 million—a figure comparable to The Winter Soldier, which was made for less than half the budget of Brave New World.
If these numbers hold, Marvel could face significant challenges recouping its investment.
Anthony Mackie behind the scenes of Marvel Studios‘ CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. Photo by Eli Adé. © 2024 MARVEL.
The runtime of Captain America: Brave New World has also drawn attention. At 1 hour and 58 minutes, it’s one of the shortest films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), ranking as the seventh shortest out of 35 movies.
Most MCU films under two hours belong to the franchise’s earlier phases, with a few recent exceptions like The Marvels, which clocked in at just 1 hour and 45 minutes (another deeply troubled production that led to a massive box office bomb).
The longest MCU film remains Avengers: Endgame at 3 hours and 1 minute.
Logo for CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD. © 2024 MARVEL.
While shorter runtimes can benefit pacing, they also raise concerns about whether Brave New World will deliver the depth and spectacle audiences have come to expect from MCU films. The movie introduces Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the titular hero, replacing Chris Evans’ iconic Steve Rogers. This follows the Disney+ Series Falcon and The Winter Soldier which failed to resonate with audiences due to its embrace of identity politics, among other narrative concerns.
As Marvel pivots into Phase 5 of the MCU, Brave New World represents a significant gamble. With mounting criticism over rising budgets and waning audience interest, this film’s performance will likely be scrutinized as a bellwether for the franchise’s future. Can Marvel justify spending $2.9-$3.1 million per minute on a film struggling to build hype?
Are you surprised by the Captain America: Brave New World runtime? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
Whereas the people who made Batgirl were smart enough to realize that actually releasing it would damage the brand.
It’s not the worst Marvel movie ever. It’s just the worst Marvel movie so far.
If the falcon grabs Captain America’s shield and no one’s around, does it make a sound?
The more time and money they waste to polish this turd and upcoming Samurai game the more they still, end up simply, polishing a turd. Just more resources wasted.
Marxists are well known for their inability to balance a budget. That’s what Margaret Thatcher meant about eventually running out of other people’s money.
Indeed, Bunny.
I had no idea that race-swapping Captain America to Captain African American was so expensive! Did they use CGI to do that, or something? 😂
I remember reading years ago Falcon/Winter Solider and Cap 4 was meant to set up mutants like Omega Red and the governments growing tension dealing with superpowered people they can’t control…sadly after Endgame..the woke crusades started and all of that wad deemed to “fan boy friendly” and axed.
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