Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

Directed by George Roy Hill, with Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross leading the cast, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was produced by Campanile Productions with a confirmed budget of $6,000,000, placing it in the micro-budget category for adventure films as part of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Collection.

At $6,000,000, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $15,000,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• The Godfather (1972): Budget $6,000,000 | Gross $245,066,411 → ROI: 3984% • Chinatown (1974): Budget $6,000,000 | Gross $30,000,000 → ROI: 400% • The Father (2020): Budget $6,000,000 | Gross $21,029,340 → ROI: 250% • I Swear (2025): Budget $6,000,000 | Gross $8,682,832 → ROI: 45% • Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022): Budget $6,000,000 | Gross $6,909,209 → ROI: 15%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences. For large-scale productions, VFX alone can account for 20–30% of the total budget, with additional costs for stunt coordinators, rigging, and safety crews.

▸ Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation. Lead actors in major action franchises typically earn $10–25 million per film, with directors often receiving comparable compensation packages tied to box office performance.

▸ Production Design, Sets & Locations Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment — all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin, Henry Jones Key roles: Paul Newman as Butch Cassidy; Robert Redford as Sundance Kid; Katharine Ross as Etta Place; Strother Martin as Percy Garris

DIRECTOR: George Roy Hill CINEMATOGRAPHY: Conrad Hall MUSIC: Burt Bacharach EDITING: John C. Howard, Richard C. Meyer PRODUCTION: Campanile Productions, 20th Century Fox, George Roy Hill-Paul Monash Production, Newman-Foreman Company FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid earned $102,308,889 domestically, for a worldwide total of $102,308,889. The film skewed heavily domestic (100%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid needed approximately $15,000,000 to break even. The film surpassed this threshold by $87,308,889.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $102,308,889 Budget: $6,000,000 Net: $96,308,889 ROI: 1605.1%

Detailed Box Office Notes

The film grossed $82,625 in its opening week from two theatres in New York City. It went on to earn $15 million in theatrical rentals in the United States and Canada by the end of 1969. According to Fox records, the film required $13,850,000 in rentals to break even, and by December 11, 1970, had made $36,825,000, so made a considerable profit to the studio. It eventually returned $45,953,000 in rentals.

With a final US gross over $100 million, it was the top-grossing film released in 1969.

It was the eighth-most-popular film of 1970 in France.

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Highly Profitable

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a clear financial success, generating $102,308,889 worldwide against a $6,000,000 production budget — a 1605% ROI. After estimated marketing costs, the film still delivered substantial profit to Campanile Productions.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

Franchise: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is part of the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Collection.

The outsized success of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid likely influenced studio greenlight decisions for similar adventure projects.

American movie reviewers have been widely favorable. The film holds an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 61 reviews with an average score of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "With its iconic pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, jaunty screenplay, and Burt Bacharach score, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has gone down as among the defining moments in late-'60s American cinema".

After working on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Robert Redford renamed Timp Haven, a ski resort near Provo, Utah that he owned, as the Sundance Resort after the role he played in the film. In November 1979, Redford held a 3-day conference for filmmakers and professional artists at the resort, aiming to promote indie filmmakers. This laid the foundation for the Sundance Institute, founded in 1981 to foster and celebrate the diversity of American filmmaking. Beginning in 1985, the U.S. Film Festival was held at the Sundance Resort and organized by the Sundance Institute; the festival's name was officially changed to the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.

In 2006, the Writers Guild of America ranked William Goldman's screenplay 11th on its list of 101 Greatest Screenplays ever written.

The February 2020 issue of New York Magazine lists Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as among "the Best Movies that Lost Best Picture at the Oscars".

In 2003, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was selected by The New York Times as one of The 1000 Best Movies Ever Made.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Development

William Goldman first came across the story of Butch Cassidy in the late 1950s and researched intermittently for eight years before starting to write the screenplay. Goldman says he wrote the story as an original screenplay because he did not want to do the research to make it as authentic as a novel.

The characters' flight to South America caused one executive to reject the script, as it was then unusual in Western films for the protagonists to flee. According to Goldman, when he first wrote the script and sent it out for consideration, only one studio wanted to buy it—and that was with the proviso that the two lead characters did not flee to South America. When Goldman protested that that was what had happened, the studio head responded, "I don't give a shit. All I know is John Wayne don't run away." He then rewrote the script, "didn't change it more than a few pages, and subsequently found that every studio wanted it."

▸ Casting

The role of Sundance was offered to Jack Lemmon, whose production company, JML, had produced the film Cool Hand Luke (1967) starring Newman. Lemmon, however, turned down the role because he did not like riding horses and felt that he had already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before. Other actors considered for the role of Sundance were Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty, who both turned it down, with Beatty claiming that the film was too similar to Bonnie and Clyde.

According to Goldman, McQueen and Newman both read the scripts at the same time and agreed to do the film. McQueen eventually backed out of the film due to disagreements with Newman. The two actors would eventually team up in the 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno. Redford took the role as he liked the script.

Jacqueline Bisset was a top contender for the role of Etta Place.

▸ Filming & Locations

Principal photography took place on-location in Utah and Colorado, and in Mexico. Shooting in Mexico took place in Taxco, and at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City.

[Filming] Principal photography took place on-location in Utah and Colorado, and in Mexico. Shooting in Mexico took place in Taxco, and at Estudios Churubusco in Mexico City.

▸ Music & Score

Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" for the film. Some felt the song had the wrong tone for a Western, but George Roy Hill insisted on its inclusion. Robert Redford, one of the stars of the film, was among those who disapproved of using the song, though he later acknowledged he was wrong:

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: Won 4 Oscars. 22 wins & 15 nominations total

Awards Won: ★ Academy Award for Best Original Score, no Musical — Burt Bacharach (42nd Academy Awards) ★ Academy Award for Best Cinematography — Conrad Hall (42nd Academy Awards) ★ Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay — William Goldman (42nd Academy Awards)

Nominations: ○ Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Director (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Cinematography (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Original Score, no Musical (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Picture (42nd Academy Awards) ○ Academy Award for Best Sound (42nd Academy Awards)

Additional Recognition: ! Award ! Category ! Nominee(s) ! Result ! Ref.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also appears on several of the American Film Institute's 100 Years lists. * AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) – #50 * AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001) – #54 * AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains (2003) ** Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – #20 Heroes * AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004) ** "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" – #23 * AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (2005) – Nominated * AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes (2005) ** "Kid, the next time I say, 'Let's go someplace like Bolivia', let's go someplace like Bolivia." – Nominated * AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) (2007) – #73 * AFI's 10 Top 10 (2008) – #7 Western Film

CRITICAL RECEPTION

After release, reviewers gave the film mediocre grades, and New York and national reviews were "mixed to terrible", although better elsewhere, screenwriter William Goldman recalled in his book Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade.

New York Times film reviewer Vincent Canby wrote that the film is "very funny in a strictly contemporary way", but said that "at the heart of the film there is a gnawing emptiness that can't be satisfied by an awareness that Hill and Goldman knew exactly what they were doing---making a very slick movie". He described the "Raindrops" sequence as part of an effort to "play tricks on the audience" by "taking short cuts to lyricism". The performers, Canby wrote, "succeed, although the movie does not".

A Time reviewer said the film's two male stars are "afflicted with cinematic schizophrenia. One moment they are sinewy, battered remnants of a discarded tradition. The next, they are low comedians whose chaffing relationship—and dialogue—could have been lifted from a Batman and Robin episode." Time criticized the "Raindrops" sequence and the "scat-singing sound track by Burt Bacharach at his most cacophonous", which it said made the film "absurd and anachronistic".

Roger Ebert scored the film at two and a half out of four. He praised its beginning and the three lead actors, but felt it progressed too slowly and had an unsatisfactory ending. After Harriman hires his posse, though, Ebert thought the quality declined: "Hill apparently spent a lot of money to take his company on location for these scenes, and I guess when he got back to Hollywood, he couldn't bear to edit them out of the final version.