Filmmaking / Directing : Production Budget: Not applicable? by Shane M Wheeler

Traditionally producers, studios and indies prefer to keep their budget numbers private for a variety of reasons. When they are available it is usually due to an article or report by someone involved in the production, agents, pr people, etc. Having your budget public undercuts your negotiations with vendors and crew (on the high side) while also devaluing your film for distributors (on the low side) so it is not in their best interest to make public.

Thanks Jack, that's exactly the kind of information I was curious about. Hard to make comparisons to phantom budgeted films, but it's good to know there's a reason.

Go on Wikipedia! They have all of the budgets for major released films. I didn't know that great bit of information until last year.

Also, sometimes incorrect budget info is published to give misleading details for various reasons like, allowing the studio to show no profits on a movie and avoid paying residuals, a common practice and other similar things.

imdbpro.com will sometimes list budgets for films.

A lot of times cheapo productions will post a higher budget too so they can appear more high quality. I don't really get the usefulness of that site boxofficemojo - box office data is pretty useless

I kind of disagree Dave. It's useful when making comparison's while pitching projects. If you know your movie is like Jack the Giant Slayer, and that Jack the Giant Slayer is a collosal bomb, you avoid that comp, while looking for other better comps. It's good to know the market peripherally if not in depth when you start trying to sell things.

ok well I agree that that is a good use Shane

Dave has a valid point. High budget independent or studio films will often list their true budgets, but small or micro-budget films seldom do, inflating them instead so that distribs and foreign buyers will pay them more. A higher budget always commands more prestige, that's why. But comparisons need to be based on much more than just budgets, but also on talent before and behind the camera, execution, producer's track record, etc. If you want a good idea of what you can recoup from your film, ask sales agents what your budget, genre, and talent will bring from domestic and foreign markets. They'll level with you.

Good to know Erik. To clarify, I was disagreeing with the second part, not the first, but this is rather good information to know.

Awesome posts. Respectfully, one slight point of disagreement. For all the reasons already discussed by others, most studio movies understate their budgets in the event that they are forced to comment on them. Anyone looks like a smart businessperson if he/she spent a small amount to make a larger profit. The higher the spend, the smaller the margin. So executives tend to report a lower spend to make his/her margin look healthier.