The success of many popular musicians rests on their music videos. That’s why producers don’t hesitate to invest a lot of money in music videos. Sometimes the money allocated for them exceeds even the budgets of full-length films.
Celine Dion “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” (1996)
Budget: $2.3 million.
The tender lyrical song “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” gives its listeners the atmosphere of antiquity. Therefore, it was not difficult for the director Nigel Dick to decide on the motive for the clip: a medieval castle, the ghost of a tragically killed motorcyclist, fluttering curtains and a sad, pensive girl…
Busta Rhymes and Janet Jackson “What’s It Gonna Be” (1999)
Budget: $2.4 million.
This clip is drowning in cyber phantasmagoria. Even devoted fans of Busta Rhymes and sexy girl Janet Jackson cannot count how many reincarnations of singers take place during the clip. In turn, their producers calculated everything well. For example, Basta’s glass costume alone cost $40,000. Another $100,000 was the cost of the virtual room in which the singers are located.
Mariah Carey “Heartbreaker” (1999)
Budget: $2.5 million.
If in the previous clips you can still guess what so much money was spent on, then in the case of this video, everything is much more complicated. It seems that the corps de ballet here is not the best, and there are no costumes from the most expensive model houses, and there are not many special effects here.
Jay-Z was unable to be present during the filming of the music video, so one of the scenes of the music video was animated by drawing the rapper. The cartoon insert cost the producers $80,000. Another $100,000 was spent on renting a movie theater, $40,000 on renting an estate, and $13,000 on hairstyles. What the rest of the money went to is a mystery.
MC Hammer “Too Legit to Quit” (1991)
Budget: $2.5 million.
Despite such a huge amount invested in this clip, as a result, it took the first position in only one shameful ranking of “top forgotten clips”. Well, there were also several “honorable” mentions in the “top 10 worst music videos” and “25 failures of all time” ratings.
The video was doomed to failure even before its premiere. After all, it was during the shooting that the sad fame of the singer was overgrown with scandals and intrigues. Oddly enough, it was at this moment, when the musician’s career was inevitably collapsing, that he began mindlessly throwing away money.
Puff Daddy “Victory” (1998)
Budget: $2.7 million.
This amount was enough for the singer to send the heroes of his music video into the distant future. There is everything that characterizes cool rappers: races, gunfights, explosions, showdowns and even a suicide attempt.
For each jump between buildings during the filming of this clip, the stuntman received $5,000. Another $100,000 was spent on pyrotechnics, for the plane that explodes here, we had to give $55,000, and for the rain – $10,000. And the main expenses went to the fees of actors Danny DeVito and Dennis Hopper, who unexpectedly appear here.
Guns N’ Roses “Estranged” (1993)
Budget: $4 million.
This video is the final part of music videos in which Axel Rose, the frontman of Guns N’Roses, pours out his love experiences. He wanted to dedicate them to his lover with sexy breasts, Stephanie Seymour. However, they broke up even before this video was released. You can also see our An-124 “Ruslan” aircraft here.
Madonna “Bedtime Story” (1995)
Budget: $5 million.
In working on this video, the sexy singer was helped by producer Nelly Hooper and Icelandic pop star Björk. But, despite collective creative efforts, this work failed miserably, not even making it into the top 40 US music videos.
A lulling motif, futuristic interiors, unreal dreams, unusual clothes – none of this can be found, probably, in any other Madonna video.
Madonna “Express Yourself” (1989)
Budget: $5 million.
As soon as music critics began to reproach Madonna that she had lost her former sexy breast forms and began to hide behind elegant outfits, she immediately removed this clip. Here she appeared half-naked, and also in the company of a dozen muscular “stallions”.
It is noteworthy that the clip was shot by Oscar-winning director David Fincher. The filmmaker drew inspiration for him from Fritz Lang’s retro masterpiece Metropolis. At one time, this clip was considered the most expensive.
Madonna “Die Another Day” (2002)
Budget: $6.1 million.
It was this song that became the theme song for one of the James Bond films. Having invested such a significant amount in the video, the singer celebrated the twentieth anniversary of her creative career and filled the video with sexy butts. Despite the high cost, the clip was shot in just five days. It is noteworthy that it was not Hollywood, but Swedish specialists who worked on it. After all, at that time, these technologies were not yet particularly developed in the Star Factory.
Michael and Janet Jackson “Scream” (1995)
Budget: $7 million.
Michael Jackson always loved lush music videos full of scenery and special effects. The director of this, the most expensive music video in history, was Mark Romanek. The invested money turned out to be not in vain – the clip won a Grammy award, as well as three MTV Video Music Award statuettes.
Sneaky journalists managed to find out the cost
is this clip. The main money went to the decorations and the rental of the venue, for which we had to spend $5 million. The lighting cost $175,000, the spaceship – $65,000, the large video screen – $80,000, broken guitars – $53,000, etc. The video was shot in just 11 days.
