Netflix’s biggest bust: This 320 Million USD film cost more than Avatar and still failed! | Netflix most expensive film | Ott News

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Netflix’s most expensive original dystopian film that had it all – big budget, star power and a strong storyline – failed to amuse the critics and audience. The Electric State released on Netflix on March 14, 2025 and has opened with predominantly neagtive reviews. What really happened? Read more to find out!

The Electric State – Mille Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt. (Image: Instagram)

New Delhi: The Russo Brothers are the masterminds behind the highly profitable Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies. They have spearheaded multiple big-budgeted films and have had widespread success with them. Over the years, many such filmmakers brought superstars to smaller spaces (OTT) to reach a new audience. This has resulted in small-screen projects having astronomical budgets.

But, big budgets do not promise big returns and that is seen with a Netflix original that cost millions only to become a flop. With a budget greater than Avatar, one of the most profitable films in cinema history, this film had the star-power, so what went wrong? Read more to know all the details.

Netflix’s most expensive film – why did it flop?

The Russo Brothers first took a chance with Netlfix’s The Gray Man which had a jaw-dropping budget of 200 million USD. In 2025, the duo took on The Electric State which had a reported budget of 320 million USD. Starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt in lead roles, this dystopian action thriller had a lot of hopes riding on it.

For context, The Electric State stands as the 13th most expensive film ever made. Yes, you read that right! In the same league as Star Wars: The Force Awakens (47 million USD), Fast X (379 million USD), and Avengers: Endgame (356 million USD), this film’s production budget is more than some of the biggest films ever made. So, with so much invested in the film, what went wrong?

Well, the film began facing issues from its pre-production phase. In 2020, two years after the Russos acquired the rights to Simon Stålenhag’s 2018 novel of the same name, Universal Pictures won the distribution rights. But, two years later, Universal stepped back from the film, and Netflix took on the project. With the constant change in creatives working on the movie, it seems that they lost the essence of the film. Despite a huge budget, the movie is unheard of by the majority of the public.

After its release on March 14, the film saw a wave of negative reviews. The Electric State has a 14% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes with critics calling the film a ‘320 million USD piece of junk’.

Ishita Ranganath

Ishita Ranganath is a dedicated Trainee in the Editorial department at News9live. With a passion for TV shows and movies, she focuses on delivering engaging content about her favorite visual entertainment. Ishita’s keen interest in Bollywood drama positions her as an emerging authority in the field, promising to become a reliable source for the latest gossip and insights.

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