Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Big Budget Is "Still a Struggle" According to James Gunn

Marvel movies typically have the highest budgets in all of Tinsel Town and still, it may not be enough for some filmmakers. Take James Gunn as an example. The Guardians of the Galaxy helmer says the bombastic space operas he wishes to tell can still put a strain on the budget, even though he gets tens of millions of dollars to tell a story, regardless.

In one recent interview, Gunn admitted if he got everything he wanted, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would have cost Marvel Studios half a billion dollars to make. Instead, keeping to a budget helps the director exercise some filmmaking prowess.

"No. I innately think about budget while I'm writing, always," Gunn told Collider while on tour for HBO Max's Peacemaker. "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."

The budget for the Guardians threequel will likely fall around the $200 million range, similar to the production budgets of the first two movies. Productions from Marvel Studios typically get anywhere from $125 million for solo adventures up to $350 million for teamups like Avengers: Endgame.

The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies are now streaming on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters May 5, 2023. I Am Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special have yet to receive release dates.

What members of the Guardians would you like to see spin-off shows of? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

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