Financial documents filed in New Zealand can reveal that The Hobbit trilogy cost Warner Bros. a US$745 million to produce AP reports. The big bucks eventually paid off as the global box office receipts totaled US$2 billion.

Warner Bros. opened a subsidiary company in New Zealand specifically to oversee the production of the movies.

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The company's financial documents revealed that the trilogy's production cost closing March 2014 had reached US$745 million. The films were made in the never-before-seen frame rate of 48 frames per second and shot in 3D, reports Hollywood Reporter. Compared to Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit films cost thrice as much as the earlier Jackson installment.

The Hobbit was originally announced in 2007 as a two-film package, with the cost of filming pegged at around US$150 million each. The films were shot in New Zealand with material that convinced Warner Bros. to film it in a trilogy. The first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey grossed reached the one billion mark in global box-office receipts, while the second installment, The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug grossed US$958 million worldwide. 

Despite the whopping budget, the studio was able to receive US$122 million in rebate, thanks to New Zealand's incentive scheme aimed at attracting big-budget movies to film in the country. However, no statement is yet available as to how much did the third installment, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies cost. The last of the trilogy is slated for release this December.

The next big-budget movie lined up for shooting in New Zealand is James Cameron's Avatar trilogy. The New Zealand government already announced December 2013 that it had increased incentive the production will receive. An MOU between New Zealand and 21st Centuy Fox shows that the study has allotted over US$412 million in budget, which will cover the cost of live-action and visual effects. The MoU also highlighted that the studio will receive 25 percent rebates on their expenses.

TagsThe Hobbit, Most Expensive Film Production of All Time