How much would it cost to make a movie?

Answer 1

This is a fascinating question, but one that is nearly impossible to answer as you have asked it. You can purchase a modest video camera, and with no other expenses at all, you can make a movie. At the other end of the spectrum, Hollywood productions can cost many, many millions of dollars and take months or years between first concepts and the time of distribution. There are 'independent' film makers all over the world, and their productions vary widely in cost as well. With roughly 15 or 20 thousand US dollars, maybe even less, you can make a decent indie film that might end up being marketed or being worthy of rental status. Some independent film makers have project budgets that get into the millions of dollars. Depending on your level of interest, you can probably dig a little and find some indie companies in your area. Give a look and see what you can find. You might find yourself performing in some (as I have happily done) or working on some aspect of production. Bottom line: you can be anywhere in the spectrum and you can figure out a way to make a movie with whatever resources you have. You probably can't make an international blockbuster with nothing more than your cell phone, but that's where creativity comes in. And who knows? Technology being what it is, maybe you CAN.

Answer 2

It varies wildly. We usually hear about the mammoth monster budgets for summer blockbusters. If it hasn't happened yet (I don't really keep track), there will, soon enough, be a movie made for $500 million -- half a billion dollars. I'd bet on that happening before 2020.

If you add up this summer's "The Avengers", "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Battleship", and maybe "Men In Black 3", we're talking about billions spent on entertainment! It seems almost immoral to spend a quarter of a billion dollars making a movie, until you consider the millions of jobs created. Hollywood is a huge and crucial part of the global economy.

On the other hand . . . Writer/Director Kevin Smith is a good example of how to make movies inexpensively and maintain respectable profits (and please one's fans.) He built his career by making movies on very low budgets. He has said, if you make movies cheaply, and they make back all the money plus profits, you can maintain a career as a filmmaker.

His first film "Clerks" cost less than $30,000! As he has said, however, "it's BARELY a movie!" It's in black and white, with little music, there are no complex shots, he cast his friends and local community actors, and the main set, a convenience store, was his own workplace, after hours! But the flick did its job. It gained him recognition, so he was able to make films with better, more realistic budgets. "Mallrats" was $6 million (I think), the main set was a real mall, and the stars Jason Lee and Ben Affleck were then little-known, so their salaries were low. Unfortunately that one bombed at the box office, so Smith stepped back and made "Chasing Amy" (also starring Lee and Affleck, in different roles) for $250,000! It's a very-well-written love story shot in a simple style, and the low budget doesn't seem to interfere with the storytelling.

"Dogma" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" were more visually dynamic, with even a few CGI effects (as well as a rubber poop monster that's surprisingly scary!) and cost, again I'm not certain but . . . $8 Million and $20 Million, respectively. By this point, Ben Affleck, who has appeared in most of Smith's was agreeing to work for "scale" (minimum wage for actors -- I think $15,000) because he liked the scripts so much. I haven't been keeping track since, but I believe Smith continues to make his films with these modest kind of budgets. Kevin is very open with his fans, with his Q&As, blogging, books, etc., in which he talks about his career in detail, including dollar amounts. He has said numerous times, you don't need to have a smash hit to have a stable career. All you need to do is not lose money, and then make a profit. It seems most filmmakers live by the saying "It takes money to make money", and there's certaintly some truth to that, but if you can make a movie effectively for a lower budget, that lowers the bar for how well the film has to perform in order to make the studios happy about their investment! So until his films start actually losing money (and even the box-office flop "Mallrats" eventually made a profit in DVD sales), he'll always be able to make movies for a living. It's a simple but inspirational point.

Hope that illustrates something for you.

Answer 3

it don't cost anything on the computer all you have to do is go to the store and buy a black CD to copy the movie on!!

( ! hope i could help!) :>

Answer 4

depends how good you want it to be

$100 - 100,000,000

Answer 5

An average Hollywood movie costs $10 million. An average independent movie costs between $5,000 and $100,000. Anything below that would be a "home" movie.

Answer 6

about 1,000,000 or more :)