Daybreakers Budget

What is the budget of Daybreakers?

"Daybreakers," an action released in 2010, was directed by Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig and stars Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill. The production budget was $20,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for action productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

• 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.
• Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
• 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.
• Casting: The Spierigs told interviewer Eric Vespe of Ain't It Cool News (AICN) that they wrote the lead for Ethan Hawke, who was initially hesitant to join the production as he was "not a big fan of genre pictures." He ultimately accepted the role as Edward after deciding the story felt "different" from that of a typical B movie.

What were the major cost factors in Daybreakers?

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

• Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
• Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.
• Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in action productions of this scale.

How Does Daybreakers's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $20,000,000, Daybreakers sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• 12 Years a Slave (2013): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $187,000,000
• 21 Grams (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $60,427,839
• 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $11,798,854
• A Guy Thing (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,400,000
• A Most Violent Year (2014): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $12,007,070

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

Daybreakers Box Office Performance

"Daybreakers" earned $30,101,577 domestically and $51,417,188 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $20,000,000, the film performed strongly at the box office.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Daybreakers," that break-even threshold was roughly $40,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $51,417,188, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

• Production Budget: $20,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $51,417,188
• Net Return: $31,417,188
• ROI: approximately 157.1%

At 157.1%, "Daybreakers" earned roughly $2.57 for every $1 invested in production.

Daybreakers Production History

The Spierigs told interviewer Eric Vespe of Ain't It Cool News (AICN) that they wrote the lead for Ethan Hawke, who was initially hesitant to join the production as he was "not a big fan of genre pictures." He ultimately accepted the role as Edward after deciding the story felt "different" from that of a typical B movie. He took the role in May, 2007. Michael Spierig explained to AICN that once Hawke was in, other actors were interested, particularly Sam Neill (who joined the cast as the main antagonist that same May) and Willem Dafoe.

Awards and Recognition

3 wins & 6 nominations total

• AACTA Award for Best Visual Effects

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 69% based on reviews from 154 critics, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Though it arrives during an unfortunate glut of vampire movies, Daybreakers offers enough dark sci-fi thrills , and enough of a unique twist on the genre , to satisfy filmgoers." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 57 out of 100 based on 31 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.