The marketing campaign for Avengers: Endgame is reportedly the most expensive of all time for Marvel Studios. The last eleven years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has all been building to this. Avengers: Endgame will be the culmination of a 22-film story that's largely revolved around original six Avengers characters like Iron Man and Captain America and the eventual threat that Thanos would pose. When he did arrive in Avengers: Infinity War, he snapped his fingers and wiped out half of all life across the universe.

This act was shocking for many viewers, even those who knew the moment as a reference to the old Infinity Gauntlet comic story, and instantly made millions all the more interested in what would follow. Early on, Marvel was weary to reveal almost any piece of information about Avengers: Endgame, going as far as waiting to reveal the title until the first trailer. When the marketing did begin though, they only focused on a few different scenes, used old footage, and even digitally altered what was shown to hide details.

Related: How to Avoid Avengers: Endgame Spoilers: A Guide

Through all of these tricks though, the marketing campaign has kicked into high gear recently, and while it may not seem as overbearing as past MCU films, Marvel is spending a record amount to promote Avengers: Endgame. This news comes from Deadline, who are reporting that Marvel Studios' promotional campaign for Avengers: Endgame is estimated to cost $200 million. This is $50M more than what they spent on Avengers: Infinity War, and has been achieved by expanding the target audience of ad-supported spots.

Avengers Endgame Trailer - Thor With Stormbreaker

The additional spending on Avengers: Endgame's marketing campaign may seem like a strange decision to some. There were many fans who believed Marvel didn't even need to market the movie and it would still break box office records, so spending a record amount of money may sound unnecessary. However, the tactic of expanding the demographic of fans and building more anticipation through the marketing looks like it'll have the results Disney and Marvel were looking for. The film's early box office tracking predict record setting opening weekends domestically and worldwide.

Of course, the added cost that they're sinking into Avengers: Endgame will also mean that the box office haul needs to be even larger than Avengers: Infinity War's $2 billion gross. Very early reports claimed the combined production costs of the two Avengers films was $1 billion, which would give a $500 million budget to Avengers: Endgame if it was evenly split. Just using that as a basis, this means Marvel Studios may have spent around $700M just to make and promote Avengers: Endgame, so they will definitely be hoping for another $2 billion at the box office to make it incredibly profitable. But, since the film is basically critic and reaction proof at this point with incredible ticket pre-sales, it should be well on its way to recouping these costs.

MORE: Avengers: Endgame Doesn't Have To Be A Good Film To Succeed

Source: Deadline

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