Forrest Gump (1994): $55 million. Tom Hanks at his peak. Robert Zemeckis directing with technical innovation AND emotional depth. A movie that made people laugh, cry, and think — sometimes in the same scene. Six Academy Awards. $678M worldwide. Universally beloved for 30 years.
Argylle (2024): $200 million. A spy movie with a CGI cat. Apple's attempt to launch a franchise. $96M worldwide against a $200M budget. One of the biggest bombs of the year. The CGI cat cost more to render than most indie films cost to make entirely.
$55M vs $200M. Almost 4x the budget. Forrest Gump is timeless. Argylle is a tax write-off.
The Hanks Factor
Tom Hanks in 1994 was at the absolute peak of his powers. He won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars (Philadelphia, then Forrest Gump). His performance as Forrest isn't just acting — it's alchemy. He makes you believe in a character who could easily be a caricature. He makes you feel for a man whose simplicity is his superpower.
Zemeckis matched Hanks with groundbreaking visual effects — inserting Forrest into historical footage — that serve the character rather than replace him. The effects are IN SERVICE of the story. They make you smile because they advance the narrative, not because they're expensive.
The Argylle Fiasco
Apple reportedly spent $200M on Argylle because they wanted a franchise. A spy series they could build into multiple films. So they spent big: Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, John Cena, Dua Lipa. The cast alone probably cost $50-60M.
The result: a convoluted spy comedy that can't decide if it's serious or silly, anchored by a CGI cat that exists because someone in a marketing meeting said "people love cats." $200M because someone thought star power + CGI cat = franchise.
That's $200M that Apple — one of the wealthiest companies in human history — will never see again. And hundreds of crew members spent months working on a movie whose most discussed element is a fake cat. Their work, their craft, their time — all in service of a CGI cat.
Forrest Gump's crew built something that generations will watch. Argylle's crew built a CGI cat. The budget doesn't care. The legacy does.