2. VIDEOS 7 - 5

7. "She's a Bitch"
Cost: $2,000,000+
Artist: Missy Elliot

For some videos, you have no idea where the money went. What made it cost so much? Greedy accountant skim off the top? Tons of footage never used? Missy Elliot's "She's a Bitch" is a perfect example of such confusion. A rap song that essentially features Miss Missy mugging for the camera in a rubber body suit (or dancing on an M-shaped stage with her Missy-ettes), how this video ended up costing $2 mil is a mystery.

  • Missy Elliot's rubber wardrobe: $10,500
  • Glow-in-the-dark cape: $3,500
  • M-shaped stage: $30,000
  • Silver suits for the extras: $12,000
  • Total set: $850,000
  • Makeup: $6,000
  • Special effects for a stormy sky: $20,000


6. "Miami"
Cost: $2,000,000+
Artist: Will Smith

Will Smith is notorious for spending googobs on his music videos, especially because they often serve the dual purpose of promoting his movies. The video to "Wild Wild West" cost $3 million alone, and the video to "Men In Black" is also up there. Of course, such videos aren't allowed placement on our list, but they go to show that Will Smith is no stranger to spending money on his videos. For "Miami," Smith chose to follow the ever-popular path of using computer morphing techniques, sending the budget sky-rocketing. The entire video consists of the Fresh Prince morphing from location to location (we counted at least 40 morphs), and each morph costs about $14,000. The sad thing is, the song ain't that great.

  • Private jet rental: $15,000
  • Each morph transition: $14,000 (and there were least 40 of these)
  • Floating Miami set: $500,000
  • Models: $10,000
  • Choreography: $200,000


5. "Larger Than Life"
Cost: $2,100,000+
Artist: Backstreet Boys

Fine, fine, they're all hotties. No use denying it. But unlike their competitor über-boybands *NSync and 98°, the Backstreet Boys are actually pretty good (they were even nominated for a Grammy for their second smash album, "Millennium," proving that they have industry respect). The Backstreet Boys made more money in 1999 than any other entertainer, $66 million, so dropping $2 mil on a video is chump change. In "Larger Than Life," the story is that the B-Boys are space-fighting robots in some bizarro Star Wars meets Voltron cyberworld. Replete with computer animation and special effects, it doesn't make much sense but it looks pretty cool.

  • Cryogenic chamber model: $20,000
  • Flying surfboard scene at beginning: $90,000
  • 3-D animated models: $45,000
  • Robot costumes for the B-Boys: $56,000
  • Exterior shot of the space station: $70,000
  • Dance stage: $80,000
  • The cost to fly the crew to the set: $150,000
  • Director's fee: $150,000 (for just 4 days of shooting)
  • Total special effects: $600,000