10 Most Expensive CGI Characters in Live-Action Movies That Cost a Fortune to Create

However, this level of innovation comes at a cost, which is evident from some of the most prominent movie characters in recent years.

Here are the 10 most expensive CGI characters to ever exist.

10. The Dinosaurs - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom ($170 million)

According to John Hammond, when creating dinosaurs, you should spare no expense, and the creators of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom clearly felt the same when making their own digital dinos. With more modern methods, the fifth movie in the franchise invested heavily in utilizing cutting-edge CGI to show more prehistoric creatures than ever before. However, this meticulous attention to detail, although awe-inspiring, cost an estimated $170 million of its budget. No expense spared indeed.

9. The Animals - The Jungle Book ($175 million)

In 2016, The Jungle Book was one of Disney's first 'live-action' projects that used groundbreaking visual effects to recreate one of its animated classics. The film seamlessly blended live-action footage with CGI to create a vibrant jungle environment and all its well-known characters. Each was carefully crafted using advanced motion-capture technology, allowing audiences to form genuine connections with these digital creations and create a truly immersive cinematic experience.

8. Godzilla and King Ghidorah - Godzilla King and the Monsters ($200 million)

The battle between these iconic monsters required CGI of epic proportions. Yet the movie brought these towering creatures to life with breathtaking detail. The team behind the film incredibly designed the physicality and characteristics of each monster, ensuring that they looked and moved realistically. The film employed the combined efforts of several visual effects studios to create such effects, which took up most of the movie's $200 million budget.

7. Kong - King Kong ($208 million)

As the titular character, Kong had to evoke not just a sense of realism but also emotion and empathy in this early 2005 epic adventure. The movie's big budget of $208 million required some significant scenes involving Skull Island, Kong's T-Rex battle, and the definitive Empire State moment. With painstaking attention to detail, including motion capture by Andy Serkis, it created a memorable performance that was much ahead of its time in CGI effects.

6. The Hulk and The Chitauri - The Avengers ($220 million)

Bringing the gamma-radiated Hulk to life in the first Avengers film required extensive CGI work. The team painstakingly crafted every muscle, expression, and movement of the Hulk to make him as believable as possible. Additionally, the Chitauri, the alien invaders, also required complex CGI to create their otherworldly appearance. However, these characters certainly added to the movie's spectacle and showcased the immense scale of the Avengers' battle at the end of the film.

5. Smaug - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ($225 million)

Audiences were treated to the menacing presence of the dragon Smaug during the second installment of The Hobbit films. The CGI team supposedly dedicated countless hours to perfecting every detail of Smaug's appearance. Combining Benedict Cumberbatch's motion capture with CGI added an extra layer of realism. As one of the most significant parts of the story, Smaug's digital recreation was likely one of the trilogy's most extensive efforts and expenses.

4. The Na'vi - Avatar ($237 million)

Avatar revolutionized the world of CGI by creating the immersive world of Pandora and its inhabitants, the Na'vi. The film pushed the boundaries of visual effects, using advanced motion capture technology to seamlessly translate the actors' performances to the big screen. Avatar may not have been the first to apply the visual technology, but it certainly was the first to use it ambitiously, making the characters some of the most expensive in cinematic history.

3. Jimmy Hoffa, Russel Bufalino, and Frank Sheeran - The Irishman ($300 million)

Unlike these other films' use of CGI, Scorsese's The Irishman utilized the technology in a groundbreaking way. The film employed de-aging technology to portray the characters over several decades, digitally altering the appearances of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. It was one of the first to start a trend that is becoming increasingly popular. However, it cost the movie at least $150 million more than its original budget.

2. Ultron and the Hulkbuster - Avengers: Age of Ultron ($365 million)

As the Avengers films continued to grow in scale and ambition, Age of Ultron introduced its most challenging character yet. Ultron needed lots of complex CGI to capture his robotic appearance and fluid movement. The film also featured an epic showdown between Iron Man's Hulkbuster and the Hulk, which also required extensive digital effects. Including these CGI-heavy sequences elevated the film's excitement but likely cost most of the movie's massive $365 million budget.

1. Thanos and The Black Order - Avengers: Infinity War ($400 million)

The first part of Marvel's concluding epic introduced Thanos as the MCU's ultimate threat. Josh Brolin's performance was created using a combination of CGI and motion capture, producing one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history. Along with his followers, The Black Order, they required extensive CGI work. The cost ultimately was a significant portion of a $400 million budget, making Thanos and his squad the most expensive CGI live-action characters to date.