The Hobbit films now officially the most expensive ever made

Typically, production companies don’t release how much their films cost to make – not an exact figure, anyway. But when a secondary company was created to finance the Hobbit movies, most likely when the two films became a trilogy, their records were actually public. Thanks to The Associated Press who made the discovery, The Hobbit movies cost a combined $745 million. Yes, million. Of course, these are three movies we’re talking about, but when you think Avatar cost $400 million to make, it becomes clearer; these films are really, ridiculously expensive, and now officially take the top place of the most expensive productions of all time, above The Pirates of Caribbean trilogy ($650 million), and The Dark Knight trilogy ($610 million). It’s not surprising to think that director Peter Jackson, whose original The Lord of the Rings movies boosted the New Zealand economy, couldn’t get his hands on such a large amount of cash, and especially since The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey took home over $1 billion worldwide (with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug not far behind at $958 million), he makes more money than he puts in. And with The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies coming out December, it looks set to make back even more. Do you think Jackson is making the most of the cash?