This year, Avengers:Endgame rushed past Avatar as the most successful movie of all-time (in terms of box office revenues). Though less than $10 million between them, Endgame earned nearly $2.8 billion around the globe and took the world by storm. However, the movie had a huge budget and the success was highly anticipated. What about the movies that enjoyed success from out of the blue? Here’s four of our favorites!
My
Big Fat Greek Wedding
- Budget: $5 million
- Box Office: $369 million
If
you need an example of how a movie can fluctuate in the box office, there’s no
better than My
Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Despite having Tom Hanks as the producer, this movie had a tiny budget of $5
million. Therefore, when it opened against The Scorpion King and others,
it’s perhaps not surprising that it made just 20th position domestically. After
four weeks, things started to snowball, and a story was beginning to emerge.
By
the 15th week, My Big Fat Greek Wedding finally broke the top ten before
taking the second spot after the 20th week. Eventually, it earned nearly $370
million.
Juno
- Budget: $7.5 million
- Box Office: $231 million
Like
most movies, Juno started as nothing but an idea. Unlike others, it
wasn’t intended to be a film at all. Instead, it was simply a sample script so Diablo
Cody
could show off his writing. After a small budget, it started with a limited
release before reaching second spot. When all was said and done, Juno earned
over $230 million.
Paranormal
Activity
- Budget: $15,000
- Box Office: $193 million
That
isn’t a typo, some sources say the makers of Paranormal Activity spent as
little as $11,000 making the movie. In a packed horror niche, the creators
managed to offer something that was not only scary but unique too. After three
weeks of limited release, it opened wide release and reached third spot. Soon
enough, it had surpassed the anticipated Saw and held onto the top spot
for a number of weeks. Since then, five more films have followed in the
much-loved franchise.
Slumdog
Millionaire
- Budget: $15 million
- Box Office: $378 million
Finally,
Danny Boyle had a good reputation in the movie industry before Slumdog
Millionaire, so it would be unfair to say that nobody was looking out for
the film. Yet, it went on to get astronomical results from a relatively small
budget. Both commercially and critically, it surprised everybody considering
the premise is based around the TV show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire.
Over
the many weeks the movie was in the chart, Slumdog Millionaire continued to rise and
fall. After reaching number four, it slipped back to number nine before the
awards season (and many awards!) took it even higher and into the top three.
All things considered, it found success on both sides of the pond and made a
whopping $378 million.
Other
examples of surprise hits include;
- Drive – $15 million ($76
million)
- Little
Miss Sunshine
– $8 million ($100 million)
- March
of the Penguins
– $8 million ($127 million)
- Get
Out –
$4.5 million ($255 million)
- Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon
– $17 million ($214 million)
