Open Water
This 2003 thriller cost only $200,00 to make, but ended up making over $50 million in theaters. Lions Gate paid about $2.5 million for screening rights, as well as $8 million on marketing, so it’s safe to say they were pleased with the result.
Open Water
Lost In Translation
Lost In Translation ended up being a huge hit, but actually only cost $4 million to make. It was one of Scarlet Johansson’s earliest films. After its release, the film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, winning the award for Best Original Screenplay. It also made about $120 million.
Lost In Translation
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Nia Vadalos, who played Toula, was the star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but did you know she also wrote it? The film cost about $5 million to make, and unexpectedly blew up, becoming a sleeper hit and earning a staggering $250 million. Its success spawned a sequel as well as a TV series called My Big Fat Greek Life.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Rocky
Nobody will argue if you say that Rocky is one of the biggest hits of all time. Did you know that it cost just $1 million to make the classic boxing film? It ended up grossing about $200 million and skyrocketed Sylvester Stallone to fame. The film’s success led 7 Academy Award nominations, winning 3 total, as well as seven sequel films.
Rocky
Split
2017 film Split cost about $9 million to produce, which is not chump change, however, the film ended up earning about $270 million, which made its initial cost well worth the investment. The M. Night Shyamalan film featuring James McAvoy holds a score of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Split
Pulp Fiction
When speaking about classic films, Pulp Fiction will almost always come up in conversation. The Quentin Tarantino hit crime thriller cost about $8 million to produce, but ended up raking in $212 million at the box office. Not too shabby, especially since it also was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning one for Best Original Screenplay.
Pulp Fiction
Goldfinger
Goldfinger is one of the many James Bond films, this time with Sean Connery as the famous agent. By Hollywood standards, it had a modest budget, costing about $3 million to make. It is often considered to be one of the best James Bond films, and it earned about $126 million, a pretty huge deal in the 1960’s.
Goldfinger
A Nightmare on Elm Street
When it comes to horror films, Wes Craven’s A Nightmare On Elm Street will always be considered one of the best. It also happened to launch Johnny Depp’s career. The film cost about $1.5 million to make but it grossed nearly $25 million when it came out in 1984. It launched a successful franchise with 11 films total.
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Get Out
Get Out is considered to be a modern classic, with the film melding several genres into one. It was made by comedian (and now director) Jordan Peele, and had a relatively modest budget of $4.5 million. It ended up making $220 million at the box office and was nominated for many awards.
Get Out
The Blair Witch Project
The Blair Witch Project had one of the most successful marketing campaigns for any movie. Since its footage looked authentically homemade, it was quite thrilling and drew intrigue, leading the film to earn $250 million. With the budget to make the film at about $60,000, that is one heck of a profit.
The Blair Witch Project
Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine had a budget of about $8 million and ended up making about $100 million. It also became one of the most beloved films of all time and launching the career of actress Abigail Breslin, who ended up winning an Academy Award for her role.
Little Miss Sunshine
Buried
Although it is not extremely well known, Buried is an underrated film featuring Ryan Reynolds who is buried alive with just a lighter. The film cost $2 million to make and initially was not expected to make a profit. However, it ended up bringing in $20 million, which is pretty good considering it didn’t have high expectations.
Buried
Paranormal Activity
Believe it or not, Paranormal Activity only cost about $15,000 to make. Despite the low budget, the film was massively successful and brought it $193 million at the box office. It sparked a franchise that to date has 6 films total.
Paranormal Activity
Halloween
When discussing horror films, Halloween will always come up in conversation. The original 1970’s cult classic cost about $300,000 to make and ended up being wildly successful. The film, featuring actress Jamie Lee Curtis, ended up creating a huge franchise, which in total has amassed about $600 million.
Halloween
Night of The Living Dead
Night of the Living Dead is often considered to be the first zombie movie. The George Romero horror classic was made with only about $115,00 and ended up earning $12 million nationally and $20 million internationally. Romero went on to direct 5 more zombie thrillers after Night of the Living Dead‘s success.
Night Of The Living Dead
My Left Foot
This dramedy, featuring Daniel Day Lewis was made in 1989 with a modest budget of $600,000. The film was well recieved by audiences and ended up making $15 million and earning nominations for the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Best Adapted Screenplay. Daniel Day Lewis won a BAFTA and an Academy Award for Best Actor.
My Left Foot
Moonlight
Moonlight is a coming of age film that chronicles the emotional journey of a young man in Miami. The film was made with a modest $4 million budget but ended up being a hit, and earned about $65 million in the box office. It also won the Academy Award for Best Picture, becoming the first film with an all-black cast to do so.
Moonlight
Saw
The original Saw film was made with a very small cast and a budget of $1.2 million. The film ended up being a huge success, bringing in about $115 at the box office. The film became a franchise, and it ended up becoming the second highest-grossing franchise of its genre.
Saw
The Purge
The original The Purge movie cost about $3 million to make. The fact that it brought in millions, as well as the face that there are sequel films and a TV series based on it shows just how successful the film was.
The Purge
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is considered to be a horror classic, but it only cost about $600,000 to make. The film ended up earning $60 million at the box office, and ended up creating a massively successful franchise, with 11 films total. One film, Freddy vs. Jason, is a crossover between the film and A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Friday The 13th
28 Days Later
With a budget of $6.6 million, you might not think that this was very low. However, for Hollywood, that is considered to be a small budget. The fact that the film ended up making over $80 million in profit proves that sometimes these initial investments are very much worth it.
28 Days Later
Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite is the little comedy film that could. It cost about $400,000 to make, and nobody quite expected just how successful it would end up being. Jon Heder, who played the titular character, was only paid $1000 initially for the role. The film ended up bringing in $45 million in theaters, and Heder was able to renegotiate for a percentage of the profits.
Napoleon Dynamite
Star Wars
Although the first Star Wars film cost $11 million to make, considering the amount of money it ended up making, which came out to be about $775 million, the initial cost seems like a real bargain. It was, at the time, the single highest grossing film of all time. Of course, it launched a massive franchise that is still beloved to this day.
Star Wars
The Hills Have Eyes
This 1977 cult favorite was directed by horror king Wes Craven before he made Nightmare on Elm Street. The Hills Have Eyes cost about $230,000 to produce, but it ended up grossing about $25 million at the box office. It also launched a successful franchise which has kept the story going for decades.
The Hills Have Eyes
American Graffiti
American Graffiti happens to be the second film that George Lucas directed. In 1973, the most he could scrounge up for a budget was $750,000 and that’s what he used to make this film. It ended up making about $110 million at the box office, and certainly help solidify Lucas as a respected director, even before Star Wars. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
American Graffiti
The Evil Dead
Yet another horror cult classic makes it onto the list. The Evil Dead cost about $100,000 to make, which is nothing compared to the $30 million it ended up grossing, which is especially a lot considering it was released in the 80’s.
The Evil Dead
Mad Max
Mad Max featuring Mel Gibson is a 1979 dystopian thriller that cost just about $300,000 to make but ended up earning about $100 million at the box office. It actually made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for best profit to budget ratio. The film became a franchise, with its sequels also earning millions of dollars.
Mad Max
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
British crime thriller Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, directed by Guy Ritchie, features Jason Statham in an early role that helped launch his career. The film cost about $1.35 million to make but it earned about $30 million.
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels
Swingers
In a very early film for both Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, Swingers is a dark comedy that cost about $200,000 to make but surprisingly earned about $25 million at the box office. Favreau also wrote the film, and allegedly only cast himself in the movie due to lack of funds to pay another actor to do it.
Swingers
The Big Sick
The Big Sick is a romantic comedy by Kumail Nanjiani that tells the true story of how he met and ended up with his wife. The movie took about $5 million to make but made about $55 million. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and holds a 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Big Sick
The Full Monty
1970’s surprise hit The Full Monty tells the story of a group of steelworkers that decide to become Chippendale-style male dancers. The movie took just $4 million to produce and ended up bringing in a whopping $260 million. It is considered to be the 25th Best British Film of the 20th Century by the British Film Institute.
The Full Monty
Supersize Me
Supersize Me was one of the first entertaining documentaries that helped made the genre become more mainstream. It shed light on just how unhealthy our junk food habits are, and that helped the movie bring in $30 million at the box office. Considering it cost just $65,000 to make, that’s a pretty great profit margin.
Supersize Me
Juno
Juno was released in theaters in 2008 and became one of the most successful films of the year and earned Ellen Page an Academy Award. The film’s budget was $6.5 million but it ended up raking in $230 million. The movie was also awarded Academy Awards for Best Writing in an Original Screenplay and Best Motion Picture of the Year.
Juno
Once
This charming film took a modest budget of $160,000 and ended up with about $20 million at the box office. The Irish romantic film won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film. Its soundtrack earned a Grammy nomination as well.
Once
Blue Valentine
This romantic drama, featuring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, cost about $1 million and ended up earning $16 million back. The actors also served as executive producers of the film. Williams earned an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination, while Gosling was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actor.
Blue Valentine
Nightcrawler
Dramatic thriller film Nightcrawler was written by Dan Gilroy and was made using about $8.5 million as a budget. After its release, it earned about $50 million at the box office. The film also won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
Nightcrawler
Annabelle
Annabelle is a terrifying horror from director James Wan, who also directed Saw, Insidious, and both of The Conjuring movies. Annabelle is a prequel to The Conjuring and cost about $6.5 million to make. It ended up earning a huge $260 million at box office, and ended up having a prequel and sequel made for it as well.
Annabelle
Eraserhead
Eraserhead is known for being David Lynch’s first film, as well as for its experimental style. It cost a tiny $10,000 to make, but ended up being one of the most culturally significant films of all time. The United States Library of Congress ended up including it in the National Film Registry in 2004.
Eraserhead
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is yet another smash hit in the horror genre. The film cost about $140,000 to make and ended up earning $30.9 million just in the United States. It is also considered to be the second most scary film ever created.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Slacker
Slacker is Richard Linklater’s classic coming of age stories, which was made with a low budget of $23,000, a lot of which was paid directly on Linklater’s credit card. It ended up earning $1.2 million and ended up inspiring another low budget hit, Clerks.
Slacker
