Ava Budget

What Is the Budget of Ava (2020)?

Ava (2020), directed by Tate Taylor for Voltage Pictures and Chastain Productions, was made on a production budget of approximately $25,000,000. The figure was reported in trade-press coverage of the project's 2019 pre-sale package at the European Film Market and is consistent with mid-budget independent action features of the late 2010s. Voltage Pictures financed through a combination of equity and presales across international territories.

Original director Matthew Newton departed the project in mid-2018 following backlash over past domestic-violence convictions, with Tate Taylor (The Help, Get on Up) replacing him. Jessica Chastain remained attached as star and producer through Chastain Productions (now Freckle Films). The film carries the unusual signature of a project that survived a director controversy that delayed production by roughly a year.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

Ava's $25 million budget covered the following production areas:

• Above-the-Line Cast: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, The Eyes of Tammy Faye) led at her established post-Oscar-nomination action-thriller rate. John Malkovich played her handler Duke, Colin Farrell as the antagonist, with Geena Davis as her mother, Common, Joan Chen, Ioan Gruffudd, and Diana Silvers in supporting roles.
• Director and Producer Fees: Tate Taylor directed his first action-thriller after primarily prestige-drama work. Kelly Carmichael, Jessica Chastain, John Bertolli, and Patrick Newall produced through Chastain Productions and Voltage Pictures.
• Multi-Continent Production: Filming spanned Boston (Massachusetts), the Dominican Republic (standing in for Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and other foreign sequences), and additional locations including Quincy and Worcester in Massachusetts. The multi-country footprint required tax-credit coordination through the Massachusetts Film Production Credit and the Dominican Republic's tax incentive program.
• Stunt and Action Sequences: Jessica Chastain trained extensively in martial-arts and gun work for the role. Multiple action set pieces including hand-to-hand combat sequences, a climactic apartment fight against Colin Farrell, and shootouts in foreign-location settings required dedicated stunt coordination and second-unit work.
• Production Design: Mark Ricker designed the suite of international locations and the contrasting Boston family-home interiors that anchor the personal-stakes subplot.
• Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt shot in muted action-thriller palettes.
• Score and Music: Bear McCreary composed the score, with a percussion-heavy approach for the action sequences.
• Marketing and Distribution: Vertical Entertainment acquired US distribution rights and released the film in a hybrid VOD-and-limited-theatrical strategy on September 25, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic theatrical-window disruption.

How Does Ava's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

Ava's $25 million budget aligns with female-led action-thriller productions:

• Atomic Blonde (2017): Budget $30,000,000 | Worldwide $100,008,706. A comparable female-led action-thriller benchmark.
• Anna (2019): Budget $30,000,000 | Worldwide $30,800,000. The Luc Besson female-assassin comparison from one year earlier.
• Salt (2010): Budget $110,000,000 | Worldwide $293,505,123. A higher-budget studio-tentpole female-action comparison.
• The 355 (2022): Budget $40,000,000 | Worldwide $27,830,168. A subsequent Jessica Chastain action-ensemble comparison.

Ava Box Office Performance

Ava released through Vertical Entertainment in a hybrid VOD-and-limited-theatrical model on September 25, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic period when most US theaters were either closed or operating at reduced capacity.

• Production Budget: approximately $25,000,000
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): approximately $10,000,000 (pandemic-constrained)
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $35,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $1,964,756 (theatrical, per Box Office Mojo, pandemic-constrained)
• Net Return: theatrical loss; substantial VOD and digital recoupment
• ROI: approximately 0.08x theatrical; positive when including digital sales and international territory licensing

Theatrical performance was severely constrained by the September 2020 pandemic release window, with theaters in major markets either closed or operating at reduced capacity. Recoupment shifted heavily to VOD, where Ava charted in the top digital rentals for multiple weeks following the September 2020 release. Voltage Pictures' international pre-sales and the subsequent Netflix streaming license substantially offset the theatrical loss.

Without the pandemic disruption, the original theatrical strategy was expected to deliver mid-tier action-thriller results in the $30 to $50 million worldwide range based on Voltage Pictures' presale model and the Jessica Chastain market position.

Ava Production History

Ava originated as a 2017 screenplay by Matthew Newton at Voltage Pictures. Newton, an Australian filmmaker, attached to direct in 2017 with Jessica Chastain signing on as lead and producer. The project moved into pre-production in early 2018 with a planned mid-2018 shoot.

Matthew Newton's past domestic-violence convictions surfaced in mid-2018 amid the broader #MeToo industry reassessment, triggering pushback from advocacy groups including the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Jessica Chastain initially defended Newton's right to work, but the production paused as the pressure intensified. Chastain ultimately apologized for her initial defense and Newton departed the project in August 2018.

Tate Taylor (The Help, The Girl on the Train, Get on Up) attached to direct in early 2019, working with Matthew Newton's existing screenplay. John Malkovich and Colin Farrell joined the ensemble. Geena Davis, Common, Joan Chen, Ioan Gruffudd, and Diana Silvers rounded out the supporting cast.

Principal photography ran from June through August 2019 in Boston and Massachusetts (the personal-stakes interior scenes) and in the Dominican Republic (standing in for Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and other foreign locations). The Massachusetts Film Production Credit and the Dominican Republic incentive program substantially offset qualifying spend.

Post-production extended through 2019 and early 2020. Vertical Entertainment acquired US distribution rights and released the film on September 25, 2020 in a hybrid VOD-and-limited-theatrical strategy.

Awards and Recognition

Ava did not figure in major industry awards races as a commercial action-thriller. Jessica Chastain's performance and the multi-continent production were recognized at the New Mexico Film Critics Awards and other regional critics' bodies. The Massachusetts Production Coalition recognized the film's contribution to state production activity. The film did not screen at major festivals ahead of its September 2020 hybrid release. Subsequent industry attention focused on the production's survival through the Matthew Newton directorial controversy as a #MeToo-era case study rather than awards recognition.

Critical Reception

Ava holds a 24 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from 134 critics with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 and an audience score of 49 percent. Metacritic recorded a 33 out of 100 weighted average from twenty-eight critics, signaling negative reviews.

Owen Gleiberman in Variety called it 'a sleek but generic female-assassin film that wastes Jessica Chastain's commitment.' Brian Tallerico at RogerEbert.com awarded the film one and a half stars, writing that 'Tate Taylor seems uncertain how to balance the personal stakes and the action set pieces.' Justin Chang in the Los Angeles Times found Jessica Chastain's lead performance the only consistent element. Critical pushback focused on the screenplay's reliance on female-assassin genre tropes without sufficient differentiation, the uneven tonal balance between the Boston-family subplot and the international action sequences, and the underuse of the high-caliber supporting cast (John Malkovich and Colin Farrell). Defenders pointed to the Chastain-led action sequences and Bear McCreary's score as compensating strengths. CinemaScore polling was not conducted given the hybrid pandemic release.