With Hollywood budgets being what they are, a budget under $10 million is practically tiny. Despite this, many films have gone on to make a killing at the box office from budgets that barely scratch the surface of their competition.
So, here are 14 smaller-budget movies that made the big bucks at the box office:
- Juno
- Mad Max
- Paranormal Activity
- Little Miss Sunshine
- El Mariachi
- The Blair Witch Project
- Annabelle
- Super Size Me
- Rocky
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding
- The Devil Inside
- Halloween
- Moonlight
- Napoleon Dynamite
It feels like this year franchise films haven’t been the dead cert people thought they were (even though some topped the charts, it was more hit and miss) while so low budget films have made their budget back many times over. I’m hopeful we’ll see more lower budget films commissioned going forward, as you can afford to take a few misses there and still make money. Of course, that would require someone in charge to have a good eye for potential which is harder than just greenlighting a sequel or prequel but A24 and Neon are doing well on this front.