What is the budget of Bad Times at the El Royale?

"Bad Times at the El Royale," a thriller released in 2018, was directed by Drew Goddard and stars Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo. The production budget was $32,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for thriller productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

Talent & Director Compensation: Thrillers depend on compelling lead performances to sustain tension, making cast compensation a primary budget concern. Directors with proven thriller credentials command premium fees.
Cinematography & Location Photography: Thriller aesthetics demand specific visual languages , surveillance-style photography, claustrophobic framing, or expansive location work across multiple cities or countries.
Editorial & Sound Post-Production: Precision editing , controlling information flow, building suspense through pacing, and orchestrating reveals , requires extended post-production schedules.
Casting: Goddard chose to spend more time developing his characters than looking for actors who would best fit the roles.

What were the major cost factors in Bad Times at the El Royale?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Bad Times at the El Royale."

Talent: Talent & Director Compensation is one of the primary cost drivers in thriller productions of this scale.
Cinematography: Cinematography & Location Photography is one of the primary cost drivers in thriller productions of this scale.
Editorial: Editorial & Sound Post-Production is one of the primary cost drivers in thriller productions of this scale.

How Does Bad Times at the El Royale's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $32,000,000, Bad Times at the El Royale sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

A History of Violence (2005): Budget $32,000,000, Worldwide Gross $61,477,797
Alive (1993): Budget $32,000,000, Worldwide Gross $36,700,000
Apocalypse Now (1979): Budget $31,500,000, Worldwide Gross $150,000,000
21 Bridges (2019): Budget $33,000,000, Worldwide Gross $49,900,000
Arachnophobia (1990): Budget $31,000,000, Worldwide Gross $53,200,000

The median budget for wide-release thriller films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Bad Times at the El Royale Box Office Performance

"Bad Times at the El Royale" earned $17,839,115 domestically and $31,882,724 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $32,000,000, the film faced challenges in theatrical release. Home video, streaming, and ancillary revenue may have contributed to its overall performance.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Bad Times at the El Royale," that break-even threshold was roughly $64,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $31,882,724, the film did not reach break-even in theatrical release.

Production Budget: $32,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $31,882,724
Net Return: −$117,276
ROI: approximately -0.4%

At -0.4%, "Bad Times at the El Royale" did not recoup its production budget through theatrical release alone.

Bad Times at the El Royale Production History

Goddard chose to spend more time developing his characters than looking for actors who would best fit the roles. Jeff Bridges was the first person to receive the script, and on August 23, 2017, it was announced he had been in negotiations to star alongside Chris Hemsworth, who previously worked with the director on The Cabin in the Woods. Actors who were also being considered for lead roles included Beyoncé, Tom Holland, and newcomer Cailee Spaeny; the latter was officially cast on August 24.

Principal photography took place between January 29 and April 6, 2018, in areas around Vancouver, British Columbia, where an incentive was given in the form of a 28% refundable tax credit. The film was shot under the working title Purple Harvest and filmed in chronological order to improve continuity. Shot with Kodak 35 mm film with a Panaflex XL camera on a 2.39:1 aspect ratio, McGarvey used Panavision C Series and E series anamorphic lenses to capture the film.

Goddard wrote each song into his screenplay before pitching it for an "organic process of structuring the film and the songs" and told major studios to avoid buying the script if they could not buy the licenses for each piece of music. Goddard had Erivo sing her songs live on set with the belief that without it, "the movie would not work". As a result, the production crew had each song playing during filming on loudspeakers; Pullman and Bridges said they had originally read the script while listening to the songs in the background as a "great way to set the tone".

Awards and Recognition

2 wins & 12 nominations total

Saturn Award for Best Thriller Film

Critical Reception

The website's critical consensus reads, "Smart, stylish, and packed with solid performances, Bad Times at the El Royale delivers pure popcorn fun with the salty tang of social subtext." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale. others comparing it to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) and Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), and several critics finding its third act failed to deliver the ending it was building towards.