Bottoms

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Bottoms?

Directed by Emma Seligman, with Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz leading the cast, Bottoms was produced by Brownstone Productions with a confirmed budget of $11,300,000, placing it in the low-budget category for comedy films.

At $11,300,000, Bottoms was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $28,250,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• Parasite (2019): Budget $11,363,000 | Gross $257,591,776 → ROI: 2167% • Troll 2 (2025): Budget $11,200,000 | Gross N/A • The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017): Budget $11,400,000 | Gross N/A • Weathering with You (2019): Budget $11,100,000 | Gross $192,729,404 → ROI: 1636% • Forsaken (2015): Budget $11,000,000 | Gross N/A

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Talent Salaries & Producing Deals Established comedic talent can command $15–20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals. Comedy ensembles multiply this cost across several well-known performers.

▸ Production & Location Filming While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.

▸ Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum. Studios typically spend 50–100% of the production budget on marketing, with comedy trailers and social media campaigns being particularly expensive.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Rachel Sennott, Ayo Edebiri, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber Key roles: Rachel Sennott as PJ; Ayo Edebiri as Josie; Ruby Cruz as Hazel Callahan; Havana Rose Liu as Isabel

DIRECTOR: Emma Seligman CINEMATOGRAPHY: Maria Rusche MUSIC: Charli xcx, Leo Birenberg EDITING: Hanna Park PRODUCTION: Brownstone Productions, Orion Pictures FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

Bottoms earned $12,036,071 domestically and $940,008 internationally, for a worldwide total of $12,976,079. The film skewed heavily domestic (93%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Bottoms needed approximately $28,250,000 to break even. The film fell $15,273,921 short in theatrical revenue. Ancillary streams (home media, streaming, TV) may have bridged the gap.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $12,976,079 Budget: $11,300,000 Net: $1,676,079 ROI: 14.8%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Modestly Profitable

Bottoms earned $12,976,079 against a $11,300,000 budget (15% ROI). Full profitability was likely achieved through ancillary revenue streams.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

In April 2021, it was announced that Seligman and Sennott were working with Orion Pictures and Brownstone Productions, with Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman, and Alison Small producing for Brownstone, and Alana Mayo producing for Orion. It is the third collaboration between Seligman and Sennott after the 2018 short film Shiva Baby and its 2020 feature-length adaptation. Whilst promoting that film, Seligman described her next project as a "campy queer high school comedy in the vein of Wet Hot American Summer but more for a Gen-Z queer audience".

Seligman faced significant difficulties during the processes of pitching, shooting and editing Bottoms, the bulk of which were due to the potentially alienating nature of the film's overtly sexual, lesbian premise. She and Sennott received a number of rejections while introducing the concept to various studios, and often were not even permitted to properly pitch their idea to executives. Additionally, several companies declined to feature their products in the film due to its supposedly "offensive" content. Once their project was accepted by Orion, they were nearly unable to find high school campuses in New Orleans that were willing to lend their space; Seligman had to resort to shooting mostly in an abandoned elementary school and a college gymnasium. The initial drafts of the script included scenes of PJ and Josie being sent to a "militaristic boot camp" for "horny girls", where Punkie Johnson's character would've been introduced as head of the camp; however, these scenes were removed due to poor reception at test screenings.

Eunice Jera Lee served as costume designer on the film. She took inspiration from Grease (1978), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Heathers (1988), Jawbreaker (1999), and Bring It On (2000).

On September 12, 2022, it was confirmed by The New York Times that filming had wrapped.

▸ Casting

In April 2022, it was announced that Ayo Edebiri, Marshawn Lynch, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Miles Fowler, Dagmara Domińczyk and Punkie Johnson were added to the cast. Filming was scheduled to take place in New Orleans between April 18 and May 27, 2022. Seligman has said that she cast Marshawn Lynch at the suggestion of Ayo, who pointed her to his appearance on the Netflix series Murderville, the majority of which he had improvised. Seligman also thought that having a "legendary football player" portraying an advisor to queer girls in the film is good representation for "that kind of straight, male character". She and Ayo were "not entirely expecting" Lynch to accept the role when he was sent the script, with Lynch later saying that he did it as "an opportunity to correct [his] wrongs", explaining that his sister had come out as a lesbian to him when he was sixteen and that he had not initially handled this well; he also spoke with his sister about the role before taking it.

▸ Filming & Locations

[Development and filming] In April 2021, it was announced that Seligman and Sennott were working with Orion Pictures and Brownstone Productions, with Elizabeth Banks, Max Handelman, and Alison Small producing for Brownstone, and Alana Mayo producing for Orion. It is the third collaboration between Seligman and Sennott after the 2018 short film Shiva Baby and its 2020 feature-length adaptation. Whilst promoting that film, Seligman described her next project as a "campy queer high school comedy in the vein of Wet Hot American Summer but more for a Gen-Z queer audience".

Seligman faced significant difficulties during the processes of pitching, shooting and editing Bottoms, the bulk of which were due to the potentially alienating nature of the film's overtly sexual, lesbian premise. She and Sennott received a number of rejections while introducing the concept to various studios, and often were not even permitted to properly pitch their idea to executives. Additionally, several companies declined to feature their products in the film due to its supposedly "offensive" content. Once their project was accepted by Orion, they were nearly unable to find high school campuses in New Orleans that were willing to lend their space; Seligman had to resort to shooting mostly in an abandoned elementary school and a college gymnasium. The initial drafts of the script included scenes of PJ and Josie being sent to a "militaristic boot camp" for "horny girls", where Punkie Johnson's character would've been introduced as head of the camp; however, these scenes were removed due to poor reception at test screenings.

Eunice Jera Lee served as costume designer on the film. She took inspiration from Grease (1978), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Heathers (1988), Jawbreaker (1999), and Bring It On (2000).

On September 12, 2022, it was confirmed by The New York Times that filming had wrapped.

▸ Music & Score

The original film score for Bottoms was composed by Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg. In addition, the film features songs such as "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne, "Pain" by King Princess, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler, and "Party 4 U" by Charli XCX.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 5 wins & 24 nominations total

Additional Recognition: ! scope="col"| Award ! scope="col"| Date of ceremony ! scope="col"| Category ! scope="col"| Recipient(s) ! scope="col"| Result ! scope="col" class="unsortable"|

! scope="row" |South by Southwest

! scope="row" | Sidewalk Film Festival

! scope="row"| St. Louis Film Critics Association

! rowspan="3" scope="row"| Indiana Film Journalists Association

! scope="row" | Astra Film and Creative Awards

! scope="row" |Austin Film Critics Association

! scope="row"| Denver Film Critics Society

! scope="row"| Critics' Choice Movie Awards

! scope="row"|Black Reel Awards

! scope="row" rowspan="2" |Independent Spirit Awards

! scope="row"| Artios Awards

! scope="row"|GLAAD Media Awards

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Audiences polled by PostTrak gave the film a 93% positive score, with women under 25 giving it 98% score and 96% saying they would definitely recommend it.

Reviewing the film for Variety, following its premiere at South by Southwest, Owen Gleiberman commended the direction and screenplay (particularly its characters and humor), stating: "Bottoms is unlike any high-school comedy you've ever seen. It's a satire of victimization, a satire of violence, and a satire of itself. It walks a tightrope between sensitivity and insanity (with a knowing bit of inanity), and it's full of moments that are defiantly what we once used to call incorrect." Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood admired the lead performances and Seligman's direction, but found some faults with the screenplay, ultimately concluding: "Bottoms is fun, but with some slight tweaks this could have been an epic exploration of the gray areas of queerness and what it means to stand in the center of that as an adolescent." Referring to the film as the "horniest, bloodiest high school movie of the 21st century" in a highly enthusiastic review for Rolling Stone, David Fear lauded every aspect of the film, including its direction, screenplay and cast performances.

Filmmakers Karyn Kusama, David Lowery, Raine Allen-Miller, Laurel Parmet and Juel Taylor all cited Bottoms as among their favorite films of 2023.