Robert Downey Jr. is one of Hollywood’s leading actors and has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of all time. Naturally, most of those films have large ensemble casts with stunning visual effects, two things that if done right, do not come cheap. Downey Jr. is also known to get a large paycheck, especially for some of the more recent Marvel movies he has starred in, increasing the budgets of the films even more.
Let’s take a look at just how much some of these movies cost to make by exploring Robert Downey Jr.’s most expensive films to date, ranked from least expensive to most.
10. Iron Man – $140 million
Robert Downey Jr. made his Hollywood comeback in the film that kickstarted the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, 2008’s Iron Man. Iron Man was directed by Jon Favreau and marked Downey Jr.’s first time stepping into the role of Tony Stark, a genius, billionaire engineer and industrialist who, after being kidnapped by a terrorist organization, designs a weaponized suit of armor to escape, becoming the superhero known as Iron Man. Also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Terrence Howard, the film had a budget of $140 million and grossing $585.8 million. Since he was a risky pick for the lead role, Downey Jr. was given less money upfront, negotiating a larger backend deal, which he more than made up for with the 10 years of Marvel films that succeeded Iron Man.
9. Spider-Man: Homecoming – $175 million
The Marvel film that Robert Downey Jr. appeared in the least, as he had roughly 10 minutes of screen time in total, comes in at number nine. Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: Homecoming was released in 2017 and was Spider-Man’s first solo film in the MCU after appearing in Captain America: Civil War. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark and appears intermittently throughout the film as a mentor to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Zendaya, Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau, and Jacob Batalon also star in the film, which finds Peter learning how to truly become the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that he wants to be. The film cost $175 million to make, with Downey Jr. reportedly making over $10 million for his contributions and the film going on to gross $880.2 million.
8. Dolittle – $175 million
The only film on this list that was not part of the MCU, Dolittle was Downey Jr.’s first big project after leaving the massive Marvel franchise in Avengers: Endgame. This is the third adaptation of the children’s book character Dr. Dolittle and was directed by Stephen Gaghan, with a release in 2020. Downey Jr. plays the titular character, Dr. John Dolittle, a veterinarian who can talk to animals, alongside a star-studded cast including Antonio Banderas, Michael Sheen, and Emma Thompson. The film cost $175 million to make and even though it was critically panned, it grossed a total of $251.4 million at the box office.
7. Iron Man 2 – $170-200 million
Robert Downey Jr.’s second full appearance as Iron Man came in the 2010 film Iron Man 2, directed by Jon Favreau. This is the seventh most expensive Downey Jr. film, with a budget of somewhere between $170 and $200 million. The film saw Tony Stark defend his position as Iron Man after revealing himself to be the superhero at the end of the first film. Co-starring Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer and Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko, the film also introduced Don Cheadle, who replaced Terrence Howard from the first film as James “Rhodey” Rhodes, aka War Machine. The film also introduced MCU veteran Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, the undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who keeps Tony in check as his arc reactor slowly poisons him. The film grossed $623.9 million at the box office.
6. Iron Man 3 – $200 million
Iron Man 3 was the only Iron Man film not to be directed by Jon Favreau and was instead directed by Shane Black. The film was released in 2013 and explored Tony Stark’s anxiety after he helped save New York in The Avengers. The film is sixth on this list and, in addition to once again starring Don Cheadle and Gwyneth Paltrow, it also starred series newcomers Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley. The film was budgeted at $200 million and managed to make $1.215 billion at the box office, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of all time after it was released. It has since dropped to number 21 on that list. This film and Iron Man 2 shared similar budgets, but as Iron Man 2’s budget varies somewhat, this movie takes the more expensive spot on the list.
5. The Avengers – $220 million
The original Avengers film, The Avengers, which was released in 2012 was directed by Joss Whedon. Surprisingly, the film is only the fifth most expensive Downey Jr. film on this list, with every team movie that followed costing more to make. This was the first film to unite the Avengers and starred Downey Jr., Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and introduced Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk. The film saw Nick Fury unite the Avengers to defeat Thor’s brother Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, as he sought to take over Earth with his alien army. The movie had a budget of $220 million and made $1.519 billion at the box office, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time upon release and taking the ninth spot currently.
4. Captain America: Civil War – $250 million
The third Captain America film, Captain America: Civil War was directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and released in 2016. Starring most of the cast of Avengers: Age of Ultron while adding newcomers like the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther and Tom Holland as Peter Parker, Civil War found the title superheroes being ordered to take accountability for their previous actions, with Steve Rogers’ protection of Bucky Barnes causing a rift between two groups of heroes (mainly between Iron Man and Captain America). The movie grossed a total of $1.153 billion at the box office, making it the 12th highest-grossing movie of all time upon release, and it currently holds the 23rd spot. The film cost $250 million to make.
3. Avengers: Infinity War – $325-400 million
Avengers: Infinity War was the third Avengers movie to be released and starred the cast of the previous Avengers films while adding newcomers like Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange and bringing the Guardians of the Galaxy into the mix. The film was released in 2018 and directed by the Russo Brothers, coming in as the third most expensive Robert Downey Jr. film. Infinity War finds Thanos (Josh Brolin) on a hunt for all six Infinity Stones, prompting the Avengers to stop the Mad Titan from achieving his goal of using them to wipe out half the galaxy.
The film served as a two-part ending to the Infinity Saga, which concluded with Avengers: Endgame. Infinity War had an extremely large cast, no doubt adding to its large budget, and was nominated for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards that year given that Thanos was one of the most spectacular-looking CGI characters to be put on screen. The film cost somewhere between $325 and $400 million to make and ultimately made $2.048 billion at the box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing film at the time, with the next film on this list eventually bumping it to number five.
2. Avengers: Endgame – $356-400 million
Avengers: Endgame was released in 2019 and was also directed by the Russo Brothers. It told a continuation of the story set up in Avengers: Infinity War. Paul Rudd was added to the cast, reprising his role as Ant-Man from the first Ant-Man film and Captain America: Civil War, as was Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. The film saw the leftover Avengers who were not snapped out of existence by Thanos go back in time and steal the Infinity Stones to bring back those who were snapped away. This would be the last MCU film that Robert Downey Jr. would appear in as Tony Stark, as at the end of the film he sacrifices himself to save the world.
Endgame is the second most expensive Robert Downey Jr. film to date, coming in at somewhere between $365-400 million. The film was briefly the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.798 billion at the box office and currently sits at the number two spot behind 2009’s Avatar.
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron – $365-495.2 million
Avengers: Age of Ultron is the most expensive Robert Downey Jr. film, as it cost somewhere between $365 and $495.2 million to make and is the second most expensive movie ever made after 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Directed by Joss Whedon and released in 2015, Ultron introduced Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka the future Scarlet Witch, and Paul Bettany as Vision. The film followed the thread laced throughout Iron Man 3 regarding Tony Stark’s anxiety about the world being taken over following the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers. Tony creates artificial intelligence to prevent this from happening, but said intelligence, dubbed Ultron and voiced by James Spader, aims to take over the world by destroying humanity. The film made $1.403 billion at the box office and was the fifth highest-grossing film at the time, currently taking the number twelve spot.
Somehow, it’s surprising that nine of the films on this list are all a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though Robert Downey Jr. has since departed from the MCU, it’s doubtful that his popularity will decline, so we can expect his future films to be made in similarly expensive veins.
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