re: Greatest Low-Budget Films

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Easy Rider

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Looks like they made it for $375k. Good one.

Yep. One of the greatest Low-Budget films there is.

I think I read somewhere or heard Wes Craven say that The original Nightmare on Elm Street was made with a very low budget that went on to make millions for the studio.
I am not sure if it was in the 500k range though.

This is a great link that shows biggest budget and smallest budget to have 1 mil in ticket sales and many other interesting lists.

LINK

how much did Flash Gordon cost to make?
most of the production $$$ must have gone to Queen for the soundtrack

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El Mariachi gets my vote considering the budget.

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I heard they shot that whole thing in like one take

These are good:

Most Profitable Movies, Based on Return on Investment
Release Date Movie Distributor Budget Worldwide Gross Percentage Return
1 7/14/1999 The Blair Witch Project Artisan $35,000 $248,300,000 354,614.29%
2 10/6/2004 Tarnation WellSpring $218 $1,162,014 266,416.97%
3 3/21/1980 Mad Max Filmways $200,000 $99,750,000 24,837.50%
4 5/7/2004 Super Size Me IDP/Sam Goldwyn $65,000 $29,529,368 22,614.90%
5 10/1/1968 Night of the Living Dead $114,000 $30,000,000 13,057.89%
6 11/21/1976 Rocky $1,000,000 $225,000,000 11,150.00%
7 10/17/1978 Halloween $325,000 $70,000,000 10,669.23%
8 8/11/1973 American Graffiti $777,000 $140,000,000 8,909.01%
9 5/16/2007 Once Fox Searchlight $150,000 $18,997,174 6,232.39%
10 7/25/1969 The Stewardesses $200,000 $25,000,000 6,150.00%
11 6/11/2004 Napoleon Dynamite Fox Searchlight $400,000 $46,140,956 5,667.62%
12 5/9/1980 Friday the 13th Paramount Pictures $550,000 $59,754,601 5,332.24%
13 8/6/2004 Open Water Lion's Gate $500,000 $52,100,882 5,110.09%
14 12/15/1939 Gone with the Wind MGM/UA $3,900,000 $390,525,192 4,906.73%
15 2/8/1915 The Birth of a Nation $110,000 $11,000,000 4,900.00%
16 1/1/1925 The Big Parade $245,000 $22,000,000 4,389.80%
17 10/29/2004 Saw Lion's Gate $1,200,000 $103,096,345 4,195.68%
18 10/8/2004 Primer ThinkFilm $7,000 $565,846 3,941.76%
19 4/15/1983 The Evil Dead $375,000 $29,400,000 3,820.00%
20 6/11/1982 ET: The Extra-Terrestrial Universal $10,500,000 $792,910,554 3,675.76%


Note: The profit and loss figures are very rough estimates based on the assumption that 50% of box office receipts were returned to the studio. They don't include ancillary (video, TV etc.) earnings, and serve only as a guide.

And the FAIL list:

Biggest Money Losers, Based on Absolute Loss on Worldwide Gross
Release Date Movie Distributor Budget Worldwide Gross Loss
1 4/27/2001 Town & Country New Line $105,000,000 $10,364,769 -$99,817,616
2 7/29/2005 Stealth Sony $138,000,000 $76,416,746 -$99,791,627
3 8/16/2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash Warner Bros. $100,000,000 $7,094,995 -$96,452,503
4 7/11/2001 Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Sony $137,000,000 $85,131,830 -$94,434,085
5 8/27/1999 The 13th Warrior Buena Vista $125,000,000 $61,698,899 -$94,150,551
6 6/22/2007 Evan Almighty Universal $175,000,000 $173,219,280 -$88,390,360
7 4/8/2005 Sahara Paramount Pictures $145,000,000 $121,671,925 -$84,164,038
8 4/9/2004 The Alamo Buena Vista $92,000,000 $23,911,362 -$80,044,319
9 9/2/2005 A Sound of Thunder Warner Bros. $80,000,000 $6,300,451 -$76,849,775
10 6/14/2002 Windtalkers MGM/UA $115,000,000 $77,628,265 -$76,185,868
11 6/16/2004 Around the World in 80 Days Buena Vista $110,000,000 $72,004,159 -$73,997,921
12 5/9/2008 Speed Racer Warner Bros. $120,000,000 $93,394,462 -$73,302,769
13 4/2/2004 Home on the Range Buena Vista $110,000,000 $76,482,461 -$71,758,770
14 11/24/2004 Alexander Warner Bros. $155,000,000 $167,297,191 -$71,351,405
15 2/18/2005 Son of the Mask New Line $100,000,000 $59,918,422 -$70,040,789
16 5/12/2006 Poseidon $160,000,000 $181,674,817 -$69,162,592
17 5/9/1997 Father's Day Warner Bros. $85,000,000 $35,681,080 -$67,159,460
18 8/8/2007 Daddy Day Camp Sony $76,000,000 $18,197,398 -$66,901,301
19 12/25/2001 Ali Sony $109,000,000 $84,383,966 -$66,808,017
20 11/26/2003 Timeline Paramount Pictures $80,000,000 $26,703,184 -$66,648,408


Note: The profit and loss figures are very rough estimates based on the assumption that 50% of box office receipts were returned to the studio. They don't include ancillary (video, TV etc.) earnings, and serve only as a guide.

Eddie Murphy was the lead actor in the #3 and #18 biggest fails

That is based on % of profitability because of the nature of the thread.

Primer looks like it was shot for 7K but you don't mind.

It might even have helped.

Rocky...