Don't Move Budget

What Is the Budget of Don't Move (2024)?

Don't Move (2024), directed by Adam Schindler and Brian Netto and distributed by Netflix, was produced on an estimated budget of approximately $15,000,000. The figure represents a standard mid-tier Netflix horror-thriller commissioning, with Raimi Productions and Capstone Studios financing the project under producer Sam Raimi's continuing horror-feature relationship with the streamer. Don't Move followed Raimi's earlier Netflix production Crawl (2019) and complemented his theatrical commitments to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and Boy Kills World (2023).

The budget covered an approximately 35-day shoot in Bulgaria in 2023, with the production using forest locations across the Balkan mountain range and additional studio work in Sofia. Bulgaria's competitive production tax incentive program and the established Sofia-based servicing infrastructure made the country a frequent choice for mid-budget Netflix genre commissioning during the 2023 production cycle. The film premiered globally on Netflix on October 25, 2024, timed for Halloween-season engagement.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

The estimated $15,000,000 was distributed across:

• Cast: Kelsey Asbille in the lead role of Iris and Finn Wittrock as her unnamed assailant in a two-hander structure that places nearly the entire dramatic load on the central performances. The chamber-piece-with-action structure concentrated the cast budget on the two leads, with supporting roles filled by working Bulgarian actors.
• Bulgaria Production: Bulgarian forest locations across the Rila and Pirin mountain ranges provided the central single-location wilderness setting, with additional studio interiors at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia. Bulgaria's transferable production tax credit and established Sofia-based servicing infrastructure made the country financially viable.
• Directors and Producing: Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, co-directors with previous credits including Delivery (2013) and Devil's Pass (2013), drew indie-genre directorial fees. Sam Raimi as executive producer and Raimi Productions partner Zainab Azizi packaged the project with Netflix and Capstone Studios.
• Practical Effects and Stunts: Practical effects for the paralytic-drug premise that drives the central conceit, including specific physical-performance choreography for actress Kelsey Asbille to portray progressive bodily paralysis across the film's runtime. Stunt coordinator Nikolay Iliev managed the action choreography for the wilderness-set chase sequences.
• Music and Sound: Composer Mark Korven, known for The Witch (2015), The Lighthouse (2019), and additional A24 horror scores, delivered an original score that emphasized minimalist-tension scoring tailored to the chamber-piece structure. Sound design was particularly important given the film's reliance on subjective auditory detail as Iris's paralysis progresses.
• Visual Effects: Modest visual-effects work supporting the practical paralysis-effect performances and the wilderness-set chase choreography, with Bulgaria-based and US-based VFX vendors collaborating on the relatively limited digital extension work.

How Does Don't Move's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At an estimated $15,000,000, Don't Move sits in the standard Netflix mid-budget horror-thriller range:

• Crawl (2019): Budget approximately $13,500,000 | Worldwide $91,500,000. Alexandre Aja's earlier Sam Raimi-produced theatrical horror cost the same as Don't Move with substantial commercial box office return.
• Hush (2016): Budget approximately $1,000,000 | Netflix streaming-exclusive. Mike Flanagan's earlier Netflix chamber-piece slasher cost roughly one-fifteenth of Don't Move.
• The Strangers (2008): Budget approximately $9,000,000 | Worldwide $82,400,000. Bryan Bertino's home-invasion horror ran at roughly half Don't Move's budget for a theatrical release.
• Old (2021): Budget approximately $18,000,000 | Worldwide $90,100,000. M. Night Shyamalan's beach-set thriller ran at slightly above Don't Move's budget level for a theatrical release.

Don't Move Box Office Performance

Don't Move debuted globally on Netflix on October 25, 2024, with a limited US theatrical qualifying run earlier in October. The theatrical run earned $88,489 in reported gross, representing a token theatrical window rather than a meaningful commercial release. Netflix did not disclose specific viewership figures but reported that the film entered the platform's global Top 10 list in its first week and stayed in the top 10 for multiple consecutive weeks following the launch.

• Production Budget: approximately $15,000,000
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): undisclosed (Netflix internal marketing plus limited theatrical qualifying campaign)
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $20,000,000 to $25,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $88,489 (token US theatrical qualifying run only; primary distribution streaming-exclusive)
• Net Return: not publicly calculable for streaming exclusives
• ROI: measured in views, watch hours, and platform Top 10 retention rather than ticket revenue

The Halloween-season release timing drove strong opening-week engagement that continued through the post-Halloween weekend and into the broader fall horror window. Netflix's October 2024 horror commissioning slate also included additional releases that the streamer positioned around a coordinated Halloween-month marketing campaign, with Don't Move serving as the slate's mid-budget chamber-piece offering.

Sam Raimi's producer brand continued to function as a meaningful marketing asset for the project, with Netflix promotional materials emphasizing the Raimi association alongside the chamber-piece-with-paralytic-drug high-concept premise. The film became one of the most-watched October 2024 Netflix originals based on platform Top 10 metrics, though specific household reach figures were not disclosed.

Don't Move Production History

Screenwriters T.J. Cimfel and David White developed the Don't Move screenplay across 2020 and 2021 around the high-concept premise of a grieving woman pursued through a wilderness by a killer who has injected her with a paralytic drug that progressively immobilizes her body. The script attracted Sam Raimi and producer Zainab Azizi, who packaged the project through Raimi Productions and Capstone Studios with Netflix as commissioning partner.

Directors Adam Schindler and Brian Netto, who had previously co-directed Delivery (2013) and Devil's Pass (2013), were attached to the project in 2022. The two filmmakers had collaborated extensively on found-footage and chamber-piece horror, making them a natural fit for the contained-wilderness-setting structure of Don't Move. Lead casting committed in early 2023.

Principal photography began in summer 2023 in Bulgaria over an approximately 35-day shoot. The production used forest locations across the Rila and Pirin mountain ranges, with additional studio interiors at Nu Boyana Film Studios in Sofia. Bulgaria's transferable production tax credit and established Sofia-based servicing infrastructure made the country financially viable. The forest locations also provided the visual isolation required for the chamber-piece-with-chase structure.

Kelsey Asbille's central performance required extensive physical-performance preparation, including consultation with medical professionals on the progressive symptoms of paralytic-drug exposure. The actress spent weeks preparing the precise physical degradation that the script required, with directors Schindler and Netto coordinating shot lists to maximize the rare opportunities for Asbille's character to move freely versus the longer stretches of progressive immobility.

Post-production was completed in spring and summer 2024 in time for the October 25, 2024 global Netflix launch and the limited US theatrical qualifying run earlier in October. The release was coordinated with Netflix's broader October 2024 Halloween-season horror commissioning slate.

Awards and Recognition

Don't Move did not receive major awards consideration in the 2024-2025 cycle. As a streaming-exclusive Halloween-season horror release, the film was not designed for prestige-circuit consideration and was excluded from most critics association ballots. The film was eligible for Saturn Award consideration in the horror categories but did not receive nominations.

Industry recognition has come through the film's streaming performance metrics and through the continued strength of Sam Raimi's producer relationship with Netflix. The Raimi Productions and Netflix collaboration has continued to produce mid-budget horror commissioning across multiple subsequent projects, with Don't Move serving as a reliable proof of concept for the chamber-piece-with-high-concept-premise model.

Critical Reception

Don't Move received mixed-to-positive reviews. The film holds a 78% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 51 critic reviews with a critical consensus that the film delivers 'a fun if familiar exercise in cinematic dread.' On Metacritic, the film scored 58 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews. The film does not carry a CinemaScore grade because it bypassed wide theatrical release.

Variety's Owen Gleiberman called Don't Move 'a tense, well-acted thriller that gets considerable mileage from its chamber-piece premise.' The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck described the film as 'an effective if predictable Halloween-season chiller anchored by a committed Kelsey Asbille performance.' IndieWire's Christian Zilko praised director-duo Schindler and Netto for 'finding genuine dread in the progressive-paralysis premise.' The New York Times' Brandon Yu was more measured, writing that 'the film works hard within its limits but rarely transcends them.'