whoatemyshorts

, , , , , , ,

Low Budget films

In Uncategorized on April 4, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Low Budget Fun

Low Budget Fun (Photo credit: cmccartney)

One of the most successful low-budget films was 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. It had a budget of around $60,000 but grossed almost $249 million worldwide. It spawned books, a trilogy of video games, and a less-popular sequel. Possibly an even more successful low-budget film was the 1972 film Deep Throat which cost only $22,500 to produce, yet was rumored to have grossed over $600 million, though this figure is often disputed.

Another early example of a very successful low-budget film was the 1975 Bollywood “Curry Western” film Sholay, which cost Rs. 2 crore ($400,000) to produce and grossed Rs. 300 crore ($67 million), making it the highest-grossing film of all time in Indian cinema. Other examples of successful low-budget Asian films include the Chinese films Enter the Dragon (1973) starring Bruce Lee, which had a budget of $850,000 and grossed $90 million worldwide, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which had a budget of $15 million and grossed $214 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.

Rocky was shot on a budget of $1 million, and eventually grossed $117.2 million domestically, with a worldwide gross of $225 million. Halloween was produced on a budget of $320,000 and ended up grossing $47 million in the US, with a worldwide gross of $60 million. Napoleon Dynamite cost less than $400,000 to make but its gross revenue was almost $50 million. Films such as Juno, with a budget of $6.5 million and grossing $230 million worldwide, and Slumdog Millionaire, with a budget of $15 million and grossing over $360 million worldwide, have become very successful. Napoleon Dynamite, Juno, and Slumdog Millionaire were supported by Fox Searchlight Pictures, a company that distributes many low budget films, many of which have performed very well at the worldwide box office. It is common though for contemporary low budget films to be produced without a distributor. In cases such as these, the producers hope to get distribution through successful audience reaction at film festivals. The Swedish horror film Marianne is a contemporary example.

The UK film Monsters (2010 film) is a recent successful example of what was once considered the preserve of the big studio the expensive, block buster special effects movie; to the independent and low budget sector. The Budget was around $500,000 but it grossed $4,188,738 at the box office.

Related articles

Leave a comment