What is the difference between budget and box office

Major studios and indie filmmakers alike now spend much of their days looking for new sources of revenue, because ticket sales are no longer the be-all and end-all for films. Unfortunately, the closing of most theaters during early makes other streams of income more important than ever. This mystery arises in part because it costs far more to make and market a movie than most people expect. Once you factor in marketing and advertising costs , the budget spikes.

Romantic comedies or some children's films need to promote themselves via TV commercials and media advertisements, and those costs add up quickly. For any type of film, whether a blockbuster or an indie production, things like tax breaks and revenues from product placements can help pay the bills. If they're given an incentive to shoot a film in Canada or Louisiana, producers will usually hustle to do so. Still, there are a few tried and true ways to make money from films.

Theater attendance has been challenging over recent years, making it even harder for studios and distributors to profit from films. Usually, a portion of theater ticket sales goes to theater owners, with the studio and distributor getting the remaining money.

Traditionally, a larger chunk went to the studio during the opening weekend of a film. As the weeks went on, the theater operator's percentage rose. The percentage of revenues an exhibitor gets depends on the contract for each film.

Many contracts are intended to help a theater hedge against films that flop at the box office. That is achieved by giving theaters a larger cut of ticket sales for such films, so a deal may have the studio getting a smaller percentage of a poorly performing film and a higher percentage of a hit film's take.

You can see the securities filings for large theater chains to see how much of their ticket revenue goes back to the studios. Studios and distributors generally make more from domestic revenue than from overseas sales because they get a larger percentage.

Despite this arrangement, foreign ticket sales became more important in the early 21st century. That is part of the reason why you see more sci-fi, adventure, fantasy, and superhero movies. Action and special effects require no translations. It is much harder to build a foreign audience for an indie comedy. It all started with Star Wars. Since the George Lucas sci-fi saga began back in , the franchise has made billions in revenue from toys alone, not to mention licensing income from other third-party companies.

This strategy obviously doesn't work for every film. You don't see a lot of action figures for romantic comedies. Wrong Turn. Saban Films. Honsla Rakh. In the Earth. Long Weekend. The Jesus Music. The Rescue. Greenwich Entertainment. Love Story. Come Play. An Egg Rescue. Pantelion Films. Purdie Distribution. The Alpinist. Four Good Days. The Mauritanian. STX Entertainment. Lamb of God: The Concert Film. Excel Entertainment. Blue Bayou. French Exit. Nine Days.

Our Friend. Chal Mera Putt 3. Rhythm Boyz Entertainment. The Sparks Brothers. Werewolves Within. IFC Films. City of Lies. Courageous 10th Anniversary Re-release.

The Truffle Hunters. Jathi Ratnalu. Flyhigh Cinemas. Most Eligible Bachelor. World War Z Re-release. Magnolia Pictures. The Lost Leonardo. Flag Day. Willy's Wonderland. Screen Media Films. Top Gun Re-release. Faith Media Distribution.

Ghostbusters Re-release. Fathom Events. Quiver Distribution. Ghost in the Shell 4K Remaster. The Dry. Bo Gia. Industry Feedback. About Stephen. Are budgets and box office grosses connected? Which genres have the strongest link between budget and theatrical success? How are genres changing over time? The more we subdivide our categories i. Small sample sizes make it more likely that randomness or other factors will pollute the result and lead to extreme results.

Reliability of budget data. The publicly available figure should be regarded as a rough ballpark, rather than a precise number for a bunch of reasons. I found that on average these movies cost Correlation is not causation. Genre is complicated. The genres come via IMDb, where films are permitted to have up to three genres. I appreciate that the IMDb genre model leaves a lot to be desired i.

International box office Total box office from all nations outside the domestic market. Legs Legs is a term used to refer to how well a film holds onto its box office day to day and week to week. Mendoza Line The Mendoza Line is originally a Baseball term named after Mario Mendoza, a Hall of Fame baseball player, but one whose defensive skills far outshined his offensive talent.

As a result, the Mendoza Line was coined to describe the lowest batting average a player could have before their defensive abilities no longer made up for their lack of offense.

There is only one mitigating factor, which is when a film debuts in Video on Demand before or at the same time as its theatrical release. If this is the case, then usually its box office numbers are meaningless compared to its VOD revenue. Multiplier A film's total box office divided by its opening weekend box office. Historically, the average Multiplier for films has gotten lower and it is not that uncommon for a movie to earn more during its opening weekend then it does during the rest of the run.

On the other hand, films that open during the Christmas holidays can still have incredible legs. At one time, each theater needs at least one print and possibly more depending on how many screens the film is playing on.