10. Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch only had a 22-page script forEraserhead(1977), so he struggled to find financial backing. After eventually securing funds from the American Film Institute, Lynch shot the film in piece-meal fashion overfive yearsbefore running out of the $100,000 budget.
Despite this, the film did relatively well, earning a little over $7 million at the box office. However,Eraserheadgarnered something more valuable than money: cultural capital for Lynch.
Famed filmmakers Stanley Kubrick and John Waters listedEraserheadamong their favorite films, and director Mel Brooks even asked Lynch to directThe Elephant Man(1980) based on the artistic style of it.
Related:The Most Surreal Movies of All Time
9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Nia Vardalos both wrote and starred in this box office success, which wassucha success that it went on to become one of the most celebrated romance movies of the 21st century.
To this day,My Big Fat Greek Weddingis often referenced as a classic example of a cinema sleeper hit. Starting with a budget of $5 million, it raked in just shy of $369 million.
The $5 million budget was considered small among mainstream Hollywood productions, and the massive return on investment made it easy to greenlight a handful of sequels and spin-offs.
8. Friday the 13th (1980)
Following the success ofHalloween(1978),Friday the 13th(1980) was pretty much a direct rip-off of the slasher flick’s formula.
Inspired by the Finnish murders at Lake Bodom, the story follows a group of campers who are slowly picked off by a machete-wielding killer.
With a mere $500,000 to fund the project,Friday the 13thworked its magic to become a huge success, bringing in just under $60 million in box office revenue—nearly 120x the production budget.
Friday the 13thwas also responsible for catapulting Kevin Bacon into Hollywood’s stratosphere, so that’s a double whammy of sorts.
7. Easy Rider (1969)
Dennis Hopper’sEasy Rider(1969) ushered in the New Hollywood era of filmmaking. Without a complete script, an established crew, or a single sober person among the entire cast, Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper still made one of the most successful films of all time.
Working with a budget of roughly $400,000, Hopper and Fonda had to cut various corners to make things work. For example, the film was mostly shot using natural lighting (and Dennis Hopper would later remark that “God is a great gaffer”).
Their methods paid off.Easy Ridergarnered both critical acclaim and commercial attention, earning an impressive $60 million at the box office—almost exactly 150x the initial investment.
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6. Super Size Me (2004)
Documentaries are a great example of important films that can be made relatively cheaply. Without the need for intense special effects or staggering payrolls for star-studded casts, they can do much with little.
WithSuper Size Me(2004), filmmaker Morgan Spurlock had a singular mission in mind: to warn the American people that their dietary habits were slowly killing them, and that their deteriorating health was being exploited by major corporations for record profits.
With only $65,000 to work with, Spurlock’s film went on to gross over $6 million during its initial run and just over $11.5 million when all was said and done. Not a bad return on investment for all the stress Spurlock ended up putting his body through forSuper Size Me.
5. Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter filled many roles during the creation ofHalloween(1978). After convincing a producer to finance his homage to Alfred Hitchcock’sPsycho(1960), he was given a measly budget of $325,000.
Carpenter wrote the film, directed the film, and composed the film’s iconic score in justfour days. On top of that, the budget was so small that he couldn’t afford adequate lighting, forcing the crew to shoot several scenes with a great deal of improvisation.
Jamie Lee Curtis, the star of the film and a rising Hollywood sweetheart, was only paid $8,000 for her performance due to budget restrictions.
Despite all these hindrances,Halloweentapped into the American consciousness and dominated at the box office, earning a reported $70 million worldwide—an immense return of 215x budget.
The profit was so great that it inspired other cheap copycat slasher flicks, includingFriday the 13th(1980) andThe Evil Dead(1981).
4. Rocky (1976)
Rocky(1976) might be the greatest underdog movie of all time, and maybe that’s because the production ofRockywas itself an underdog struggle against all odds.
Sylvester Stallone, who had been living rough for a few years prior, refused to sell the rights to his script unless the buyer agreed to his one stipulation—that he would be the star of the movie.
Despite finding a studio to back him,Rockyunderwent production with a sliced budget that fell just short of $1 million. Yet, even so, Sylvester Stallone turned pulled it off and created one of the most inspiring films of all time, which went on to make $225 million at the box office.
As a cherry on top of that success,Rockyalso won the Academy Award for Best Picture, cementing its status as a real-life underdog story.
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3. El Mariachi (1992)
The budget forEl Mariachi(1992) was insanely small at just $7,000—and half of it was raised by director Robert Rodriguez’s own participation in a cholesterol-reducing drug experiment. (He wrote the film’s script during the month he spent at the laboratory.)
Robert Rodriguez wasn’t just the director and writer. He was also the cameraman, the producer, and the special effects coordinator. He later went on to remark that the only thing hedidn’tdo was act.
Despite his extreme style of guerrilla filmmaking,El Mariachiwent on to gross a surprising $2 million. What a success!
Related:The Best Robert Rodriguez Movies of All Time, Ranked
2. Mad Max (1979)
The self-proclaimed “mastermind” George Miller might be justified in his self-given moniker given the results ofMad Max(1979).
This legendary film, which has been partly credited with blowing up interest in the Australian New Wave, was filmed on a shoestring budget of just $400,000 AUD (or $260,000 USD). The film went on to explode at the international box office, making over $100 million.
That’s more than 384x its production cost, representing one of the largest profit margins in the history of cinema.Mad Maxeven held a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as most profitable film of all time, until 1999 when it was topped by…
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1. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Following in the footsteps of cheap horror movies likeHalloween(1978) andFriday the 13th(1980),The Blair Witch Project(1999) revolutionized the horror genre with a new component: found footage.
While some claim that it borrows too much from the iconic Italian horror filmCannibal Holocaust(1980), no film—before or since—has done marketing better thanThe Blair Witch Projectdid.
Much like how John Carpenter’sHalloweentapped into the American fear of 1970s suburban crime, this film’s themes of Satanism and the occult dug into America’s 1990s paranoia.
Often erroneously believed to have a budget of only $60,000,The Blair Witch Projectactually spent more than that in post-production, bringing up the total production cost to somewhere around $350,000.
But does the difference really matter? Nope! Because either way,The Blair Witch Projectgenerated such monumental buzz that it went on to earn just shy of $250 million at the box office.
That’s more than 700x the initial investment—or 4,100x if you want to go by the $60,000 budget figure—which makes it the most profitable movie in cinema history by a longshot. For as long as we live, we might never see another film break this record.
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