Oscar Best Picture Winners Made on the Cheap
At first glance, $25 million may seem like a lot money. Certainly, it is enough to keep the lights on at home, but it wouldn't cover the expenses of many major motion pictures. While Hollywood is generally secretive about its accounting, it is not a secret that it is common for major movies to have budgets that exceed $100 million. Since 2000, no fewer than 75 movies had budgets that even soared past $200 million (inflation-adjusted).
Officially, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) holds the record for the most expensive film ever with a production budget of $378.5 million or $412 million inflation-adjusted, while The Hobbit trilogy is the most expensive back-to-back film production with combined costs of $623 million or $675.6 million inflation-adjusted (after tax credits).
When compared to the cost of some of Hollywood's bigger budget productions, these Oscar winners were made for pennies on the dollar, relatively speaking. Sources: Wikipedia, Box Office Mojo, The Numbers and Business Insider
Which of these select Oscar-winning Best Picture movies produced on a relatively inexpensive budget* is your favorite? *maximum $25m inflation adjusted budget in 2018 U.S. Dollars and a 7.0+ IMDb rating
Cast your vote here or discuss the topic here.
Officially, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) holds the record for the most expensive film ever with a production budget of $378.5 million or $412 million inflation-adjusted, while The Hobbit trilogy is the most expensive back-to-back film production with combined costs of $623 million or $675.6 million inflation-adjusted (after tax credits).
When compared to the cost of some of Hollywood's bigger budget productions, these Oscar winners were made for pennies on the dollar, relatively speaking. Sources: Wikipedia, Box Office Mojo, The Numbers and Business Insider
Which of these select Oscar-winning Best Picture movies produced on a relatively inexpensive budget* is your favorite? *maximum $25m inflation adjusted budget in 2018 U.S. Dollars and a 7.0+ IMDb rating
Cast your vote here or discuss the topic here.
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- DirectorBarry JenkinsStarsMahershala AliNaomie HarrisTrevante RhodesA young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.Initial budget: $1.5 million
Adjusted for inflation: $1.55 million - DirectorDelbert MannStarsErnest BorgnineBetsy BlairEsther MinciottiA middle-aged butcher and a school teacher who have given up on the idea of love meet at a dance and fall for each other.Initial budget: $0.35 million
Adjusted for inflation: $3.26 million - DirectorJohn G. AvildsenStarsSylvester StalloneTalia ShireBurt YoungA small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.Initial budget: $960,000
Adjusted for inflation: $4.18 million - DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.Initial budget: $ 0.325 million
Adjusted for inflation: $ 6.085 million - DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsJohn LauriePrince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.Initial budget: $ 678,783 (£527,530)
Adjusted for inflation: $7.072 million (£5.496 million) - DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.Initial budget: $6.5 million
Adjusted for inflation: $8.2 million - DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoKarl MaldenLee J. CobbAn ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses, including his older brother, as he starts to connect with the grieving sister of one of the syndicate's victims.Initial budget: $0.91 million
Adjusted for inflation: $8.42 million - DirectorHugh HudsonStarsBen CrossIan CharlesonNicholas FarrellTwo British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.Initial budget: $5.5 million
Adjusted for inflation: $10.999 million - DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.Initial budget: $0.878 million
Adjusted for inflation: $12.94 million - DirectorJohn FordStarsWalter PidgeonMaureen O'HaraAnna LeeAt the turn of the century in a Welsh mining village, the Morgans, he stern, she gentle, raise coal-mining sons and hope their youngest will find a better life.Initial budget: $0.8 million
Adjusted for inflation: $13.02 million - DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsGene HackmanRoy ScheiderFernando ReyA pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal.Initial budget: $2.2 million
Adjusted for inflation: $13.39 million - DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsGreta GarboJohn BarrymoreJoan CrawfordA group of very different individuals staying at a luxurious hotel in Berlin deal with each of their respective dramas.Initial budget: $ 0.75 million
Adjusted for inflation: $ 13.45 million - DirectorOliver StoneStarsCharlie SheenTom BerengerWillem DafoeChris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.Initial budget: $6 million
Adjusted for inflation: $13.5 million - DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.Initial budget: $1.4 million
Adjusted for inflation: $14.17 million - DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSidney PoitierRod SteigerWarren OatesA black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.Initial budget: $2.2 million
Adjusted for inflation: $14.87 million - DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsMorgan FreemanJessica TandyDan AykroydAn old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.Initial budget: $7.5 million
Adjusted for inflation: $14.991 million - DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.Initial budget: $2.2 million
Adjusted for inflation: $15.14 million - DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsBurt LancasterMontgomery CliftDeborah KerrAt a U.S. Army base in 1941 Hawaii, a private is cruelly punished for not boxing on his unit's team, while his commanding officer's wife and top aide begin a tentative affair.Initial budget: $1.65 million
Adjusted for inflation: $15.27 million - DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonTony RobertsAlvy Singer, a divorced Jewish comedian, reflects on his relationship with ex-lover Annie Hall, an aspiring nightclub singer, which ended abruptly just like his previous marriages.Initial budget: $4 million
Adjusted for inflation: $16.36 million - DirectorMichel HazanaviciusStarsJean DujardinBérénice BejoJohn GoodmanWhen George, a silent movie superstar, meets Peppy Miller, a dancer, sparks fly between the two. However, after the introduction of talking pictures, their fortunes change, affecting their dynamic.Initial budget: $15 million
Adjusted for inflation: $16.5 million - DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.Initial budget: $15 million
Adjusted for inflation: $17.05 million - DirectorBilly WilderStarsRay MillandJane WymanPhillip TerryThe desperate life of a chronic alcoholic is followed through a four-day drinking bout.Initial budget: $1.25 million
Adjusted for inflation: $17.2 million - DirectorDanny BoyleLoveleen TandanStarsDev PatelFreida PintoSaurabh ShuklaA teenager from the slums of Mumbai becomes a contestant on the show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' When interrogated under suspicion of cheating, he revisits his past, revealing how he had all the answers.Initial budget: $15 million
Adjusted for inflation: $17.26 million - DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsJeremy RennerAnthony MackieBrian GeraghtyDuring the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.Initial budget: $15 million
Adjusted for inflation: $17.3 million - DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.Initial budget: $ 1.2 million
Adjusted for inflation: $ 17.58 million - DirectorRobert RedfordStarsDonald SutherlandMary Tyler MooreJudd HirschThe accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.Initial budget: $6 million
Adjusted for inflation: $18.04 million - DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsMichael KeatonZach GalifianakisEdward NortonA washed-up superhero actor attempts to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.Initial budget: $18 million
Adjusted for inflation: $18.84 million - DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsShirley MacLaineDebra WingerJack NicholsonFollows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love and her daughter's family problems.Initial budget: $8 million
Adjusted for inflation: $19.9 million - DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.Initial budget: $4.4 million
Adjusted for inflation: $20.27 million - DirectorTom McCarthyStarsMark RuffaloMichael KeatonRachel McAdamsThe true story of how the Boston Globe uncovered the massive scandal of child molestation and cover-up within the local Catholic Archdiocese, shaking the entire Catholic Church to its core.Initial budget: $20 million
Adjusted for inflation: $20.91 million - DirectorSteve McQueenStarsChiwetel EjioforMichael Kenneth WilliamsMichael FassbenderIn the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.Initial budget: $20 million
Adjusted for inflation: $21.28 million - DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.Initial budget: $15 million
Adjusted for inflation: $22.3 million - DirectorPeter FarrellyStarsViggo MortensenMahershala AliLinda CardelliniA working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver for an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.Initial budget: $23 million
Adjusted for inflation: $23.0 million - DirectorDavid LeanStarsWilliam HoldenAlec GuinnessJack HawkinsBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it.Initial budget: $2.8 million
Adjusted for inflation: $24.55 million - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGene HackmanMorgan FreemanRetired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."Initial budget: $14 million
Adjusted for inflation: $24.73 million