These Blockbuster Movies Were Made For Less Than $1 Million

And one of them has grossed almost $380 million.

Damjan

• Published in Interesting
• June 30, 2022

We all love movies, right. And when we see announcements for a huge Hollywood movie, we simply can't wait. We are all thinking, "Wow, they've spent $50 million on it. It must be fantastic."

People frequently believe that a blockbuster film requires a high budget and only A-list performers. Despite the fact that some films do need budgets of tens of millions of dollars, you may still make a terrific film on a smaller scale.

Many well-known films offer fantastic, unique plotlines as well as stunning photography. It all boils down to the crew that worked on the picture.

Everyone is aware that making money requires investment, but is a large budget necessary to provide compelling content for a film? Experts estimate that the price to produce any kind of feature film might range from $40 million to $70 million.

However, none of the low-budget films we are showcasing here have even a $1 million budget. Spending so much money on a movie that could not perform well in theaters might be pretty dangerous.

However, the earnings of these movies were humongous and they became huge global hits. So let's look at all the low-budget films that were quite successful.

1. Friday The 13th

Everybody has heard of the movie Friday the 13th and how it creates a cult holiday for horror aficionados worldwide. Even though it only cost $550,000 to make, this movie brought in $92.7 million globally.

The film is based on a hockey mask-wearing bad guy who exacts revenge on Friday the 13th. As a result, 12 further films, comic books, clothing, video games, and other projects were produced, starting a new franchise devoted to this picture.

It continues to rank among the highest-grossing horror films ever. In addition, this is the rationale for the Friday the 13th celebration, which is celebrated worldwide by horror enthusiasts...

2. The Blair Witch Project

For all of the horror movie enthusiasts out there, The Blair Witch launched a brand-new genre.

Many subsequent new films quickly adopted its style and genre. Despite not being the first of its sort, the film is based on the idea of "found footage."

A group of young student filmmakers who attempt to look into an urban legend are the subject of this independent film. One of the first movies to use a marketing strategy that relied on all the events in the movie taking place in real life was The Blair Witch Project.

Horror fans all across the world were ecstatic when this film originally came out, which led to its enormous success. Despite having a $60,000 budget, the movie still made $246.8 million worldwide.

You'll be shocked to learn that the movie was only shot for less than eight days and that the script wasn’t complete before production began. This only serves to demonstrate the fact that a big budget is not necessarily necessary for a hit film.

3. Mad Max

Since the 1979 debut of the film, Mad Max has garnered a great deal of appreciation from critics. One of the most well-known movie franchises ever was started with a $300,000 old dystopian action flick revolving around murder and retaliation.

The movie made $378.9 million globally. There have already been three sequels to this film, and each one has been a commercial success.

4. Halloween

The 1978 independent film Halloween is quite well-known for having introduced the slasher subgenre to a wide range of viewers. This film launched a well-known series that continues to produce films, television shows, video games, and merchandise.

Despite having a $300,000 budget, this cult movie grossed $255.5 million worldwide, placing it among the movies with the highest return on investment.

5. Napoleon Dynamite

A well-known comedy film from 2004 called Napoleon Dynamite was made on a $400k shoestring budget. It's remarkable that the main actor in this film only received a $1000 salary for the duration of the film that was edited in the producer's apartment, on his personal computer.

The film brought in a total of $46.1 million globally despite all the budget cuts.

6. Insidious

The film Insidious is well-known to all thriller and horror fans. But did you realize that it only had an $800,000 budget?

This horror film served as an example for everyone on how to turn a modest budget into a blockbuster. The caliber of this movie astounded producers and filmmakers around.

This movie earned $99.9 million globally and was praised by critics.

7. Night Of The Living Dead

This zombie film is unique because it generated a lot of controversies when it originally came out. A black actor was chosen to portray the lead part, and it debuted on television in 1968.

Because it was included in the national film registry's preservation list back in 1999, this movie has established itself as a cult classic. The whole production of the film cost $114,000, which was more than 250 times its low budget.

It made $18 million globally.

8. Open Water

"Open Water," was based on a real-life story. It centered on a couple who was stranded in the middle of the ocean and struggled to survive. Despite having a $500,000 budget, the movie made $50 million worldwide.

Only a digital camera with a simple setting was used to record the movie.

Although a high movie budget most often implies that the movie will be spectacular (special effects, the A-list actors, and the locations), it doesn’t guarantee the movie will be any good. Anyone can make a bad movie with a huge budget, but only rare people can make a good movie with limited funds.

Damjan