How Spider-Man Spent $75M

$9 million on sets, costumes alone
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 23, 2011 2:17 PM CDT
How the Musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' Spent $75M
Patrick Page, right, Jennifer Damiano and Reeve Carney appear onstage at the curtain call for the opening night performance of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” in New York, Tuesday, June 14, 2011.   (AP Photo/Charles Sykes)

Amid injuries, delays, and firings, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has managed to eat through $75 million, New York state financial statements reveal. To put that in perspective: The play The Book of Mormon cost $9 million, reports the New York Times. Here’s where some of the money—and time—has gone:

  • $4 million to rent the theater for two years before opening (most shows need it just months in advance)
  • $9 million on sets, costumes, and, er, shoes

  • $8 million borrowed to renovate the theater
  • $6 million to stagehands
  • $1.2 million a week in operating costs
  • $1 million to lawyers
  • Nine years in development
“The bad news is that it was very expensive,” says a top producer. But “the good news is that we will not quit and we will make this a success and that’s that.” Click through for a detailed Spider-Man cost report. (More Spider-Man stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X