Back in 1991, Terminator 2 made headlines for being the first movie to cost $100 million to produce, making it the most expensive film ever by a fairly large margin. Today? T2 doesn’t even crack a list of the top 200 most expensive movies ever made. That’s right. Since T2’s release, more than 200 movies have been made with reported budgets well north of its $100 million dollars. Inflation does play a role in the uptick in budgets, but not a big role. More like a cameo. Even when you account for inflation, 45 of the 50 most expensive movies ever made have all been released in the last 10 years.

Hollywood film execs are doubling down on “spectacle.”

At the same time, technology has revolutionized the tools used to make movies. DSLR cameras that can capture cinema-quality images are available at Best Buy. A single desktop computer today can surpass the computing power of all the rooms of computers used to make the T-1000 in T2. Digital workflows have streamlined the process of filmmaking, eliminating costly development and duplication processes.

Many industries have seen costs driven down by new technologies, and we know technology has fundamentally altered how movies are made. So why is the film industry spending more on film production now than ever before?

Here are a few reasons: