Always Budget

What is the budget of Always?

"Always," a romance released in 1989, was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter. The production budget was $31,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for romance productions of the 1980s.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a romance production like this include:

• Lead Cast Compensation: Romantic films depend entirely on the chemistry and appeal of their leads, making star casting decisions the most consequential budget item.
• Location Filming: Picturesque, often international locations are central to the romantic genre's visual appeal.
• Music Supervision & Soundtrack: Iconic songs can cost $250,000 to 500,000 to license per use, and a well-curated soundtrack is often as important to marketing as the trailer itself.
• Production: Steven Spielberg confided that while making Jaws in 1974, he and Richard Dreyfuss had traded quips from A Guy Named Joe, considered a "classic" war film, that they both wanted to remake.

What were the major cost factors in Always?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Always."

• Lead Cast Compensation: Lead Cast Compensation is one of the primary cost drivers in romance productions of this scale.
• Location Filming: Location Filming is one of the primary cost drivers in romance productions of this scale.
• Music Supervision: Music Supervision & Soundtrack is one of the primary cost drivers in romance productions of this scale.

How Does Always's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $31,000,000, Always sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• Arachnophobia (1990): Budget $31,000,000, Worldwide Gross $53,200,000
• Arlington Road (1999): Budget $31,000,000, Worldwide Gross $41,100,000
• Birth of the Dragon (2017): Budget $31,000,000, Worldwide Gross $7,220,490
• Dangerous Liaisons (2012): Budget $31,000,000
• Extraordinary Measures (2010): Budget $31,000,000, Worldwide Gross $15,134,293

The median budget for wide-release romance films in the era ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Always Box Office Performance

"Always" earned $74,100,000 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $31,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Always," that break-even threshold was roughly $62,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $74,100,000, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

• Production Budget: $31,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $74,100,000
• Net Return: $43,100,000
• ROI: approximately 139%

At 139%, "Always" earned roughly $2.39 for every $1 invested in production.

Always Production History

* The character Pete Sandich, played by Richard Dreyfuss, whistles "Garryowen" and the theme to Leave It to Beaver. * "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," performed live in the film by JD Souther and played later on tape by The Platters, is what romantic couple Sandich and Durston refer to as "our song." * The album was released in 1990 and featured tracks of the orchestral score of the film, composed and conducted by John Williams and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. An expanded edition of Williams' score was released on June 22, 2021, through La-La-Land Records, which includes unreleased and unheard musical content.

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 68% based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Its central romance takes occasional dives into excessive sentimentality, but Always otherwise flies high thanks to director Steven Spielberg's rousing feel for adventure." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 50 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.