Earlier this week, a report claimed that both Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story may ultimately tie for the distinction of being the most expensive movie ever made, but now another report claims Infinity War didn't cost quite so much. While the original report was never confirmed, it claimed that both Avengers: Infinity War and Solo: A Star Wars Story had production budgets of roughly $400 million, which would be enough to best the all-time record of $378 million that Disney spent to make 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. While neither budget has been confirmed, a new report claims that Avengers: Infinity War had a production budget of nearly $300 million, although an exact figure was not divulged.

Many times, official budget numbers are never made public, but it wouldn't surprise many if Avengers: Infinity War did cost upwards of $300 million, or even $400 million. There was a report from a few years back that claimed the combined production budget of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 would be $1 billion, meaning that each movie would cost $500 million apiece. That was also during a time when Marvel was planning on shooting both movies simultaneously, although they ended up scrapping those plans. Filming started on Avengers: Infinity War in January 2017, wrapping in mid-July 2017, with filming starting on Avengers 4 in August 2017, wrapping in mid-January 2018, completing roughly an entire year of production for both movies.

There is no indication that Marvel will confirm the production budget for Avengers: Infinity War, with just one week left until the first sneak peek screenings are held on Thursday, April 26. Most Marvel movies cost upwards of $200 million, but for a movie as massive as Avengers: Infinity War, which is said to feature practically every superhero established in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, it definitely wouldn't be surprising to learn that the budget has approached, or eclipsed, $300 million, or even $400 million. Even if it did, it probably won't take Marvel too long to earn the budget back.

We reported earlier this week that new box office projections put the opening weekend for Avengers: Infinity War between $235 million and $255 million, which could surpass the record of $247.9 million set in December 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Early projections put it between $175 million and $200 million, but that was before Fandango reported that Infinity War has outsold the last seven movies in the MCU combined, at this stage of their pre-sales cycle. Even if it doesn't manage to break The Force Awakens' opening record, it seems likely that Avengers: Infinity War will be the movie to beat for the rest of the year at the box office.

This report from The Wall Street Journal also reveals that Avengers: Infinity War has already sold more than $50 million in advanced ticket sales, which is currently good for third best all time behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. With one week left until Avengers: Infinity War opens, it will be interesting to see if it can break that record. There is one indication that it might be able to break the record, with Wall Street Journal's Ben Fritz sharing an excerpt from his article on Twitter, which you can see below, where it shows that a survey revealed Infinity War was the top choice to see among upcoming films, while The Force Awakens' was at 33% at the same time before its opening.

With $50M-plus in pre-sales, "Avengers: Infinity War" is behind only "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi." But tracking shows interest even higher than for those movies or any other blockbuster. Will it open over $248M and set a new record? https://t.co/oyZHRMeDuR — Ben Fritz (@benfritz) April 19, 2018