Eighth Grade

Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Eighth Grade?

Directed by Bo Burnham, with Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson leading the cast, Eighth Grade was produced by A24 with a confirmed budget of $2,000,000, placing it in the micro-budget category for comedy films.

At $2,000,000, Eighth Grade was produced on a lean budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $5,000,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• Seven Samurai (1954): Budget $2,000,000 | Gross $105,000,000 → ROI: 5150% • The Great Dictator (1940): Budget $2,000,000 | Gross $11,000,000 → ROI: 450% • Sing Sing (2024): Budget $2,000,000 | Gross $3,401,789 → ROI: 70% • The Lives of Others (2006): Budget $2,000,000 | Gross $77,672,685 → ROI: 3784% • Anatomy of a Murder (1959): Budget $2,000,000 | Gross $8,000,000 → ROI: 300%

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: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Emily Robinson, Jake Ryan, Daniel Zolghadri Key roles: Elsie Fisher as Kayla Day; Josh Hamilton as Mark Day; Emily Robinson as Olivia; Jake Ryan as Gabe

DIRECTOR: Bo Burnham CINEMATOGRAPHY: Andrew Wehde MUSIC: Anna Meredith EDITING: Jennifer Lilly PRODUCTION: A24, Scott Rudin Productions, IAC Films FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

Eighth Grade earned $13,539,709 domestically, for a worldwide total of $13,539,709. 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), Eighth Grade needed approximately $5,000,000 to break even. The film surpassed this threshold by $8,539,709.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $13,539,709 Budget: $2,000,000 Net: $11,539,709 ROI: 577.0%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Highly Profitable

Eighth Grade was a clear financial success, generating $13,539,709 worldwide against a $2,000,000 production budget — a 577% ROI. After estimated marketing costs, the film still delivered substantial profit to A24.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

The outsized success of Eighth Grade likely influenced studio greenlight decisions for similar comedy projects.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Casting

50 teenagers auditioned for the role of Kayla. Upon reviewing the screenplay, her father shouted and swore while reading the "truth or dare" scene, but made sure Fisher was comfortable with the material.

Burnham considered Josh Hamilton to have a "dad vibe".

Actual teachers and students at Suffern Middle School in New York were used as extras, with principal Brian Fox revealing that five to ten students were cast. Band teacher Dave Yarrington said Burnham cast him because he "liked [his] look".

▸ Filming & Locations

The film was shot in Suffern, New York, in summer 2017, over 27 days,

Burnham chose not to obscure the natural look of Fisher's skin, Kayla's use of the phrase "Gucci!" to sign-off her video blogs came from Fisher's habit of ending conversations this way, which was also imitated by Burnham and others on set. Fisher's other habits of slouching and rubbing their arm were also incorporated into Kayla's character. The filmmakers adopted Fisher's advice that "no one uses Facebook anymore" in regard to teenagers, and it was replaced in the film by Instagram. Beyond minor changes, improvisation was rarely employed. Because the actual Internet was depicted, production designer Sam Lisenco and prop designer Erica Severson created many false Instagram and Twitter accounts. The filmmakers primarily used Red Digital Cinema cameras and wide lenses, with Burnham favoring the use of camera zooming. They explained, "We just wanted to take a sensitive approach and just be honest about this, and portray a type of toxic event that can happen." Because Fisher was underage when shooting the banana scene, it was similarly shot with minimal crew present.

[Filming] The film was shot in Suffern, New York, in summer 2017, over 27 days,

Burnham chose not to obscure the natural look of Fisher's skin, Kayla's use of the phrase "Gucci!" to sign-off her video blogs came from Fisher's habit of ending conversations this way, which was also imitated by Burnham and others on set. Fisher's other habits of slouching and rubbing their arm were also incorporated into Kayla's character. The filmmakers adopted Fisher's advice that "no one uses Facebook anymore" in regard to teenagers, and it was replaced in the film by Instagram. Beyond minor changes, improvisation was rarely employed. Because the actual Internet was depicted, production designer Sam Lisenco and prop designer Erica Severson created many false Instagram and Twitter accounts.

▸ Post-Production

Burnham and editor Jennifer Lilly did not complete post-production until three days before the film's premiere at Sundance in January 2018.

Burnham used "Orinoco Flow" by Irish musician Enya for a montage scene of Kayla browsing social media. He wanted to use the song to convey that the social media experience was "religious" and "spiritual" for Kayla, and wrote a letter to Enya for her permission to use the song, which she granted.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 60 wins & 91 nominations total

Awards Won: ★ National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Additional Recognition: Eighth Grade was entered into competition for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. winning Best First Screenplay. Fisher received their first Golden Globe nomination for the film, but the film was not nominated for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy despite reporter Kyle Buchanan considering it to be A24's best candidate for the category.

Burnham and Fisher each won Breakthrough awards at the Gotham Awards. Eighth Grade additionally won two National Board of Review Awards, including being named in the Top Ten Films of 2018; the American Film Institute also included it in its annual top 10. The film was nominated for three Satellite Awards, including Best Independent Film, and three Critics' Choice Awards, winning Best Young Performer for Fisher. Additionally, Burnham won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding First-Time Feature and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Eighth Grade received critical acclaim, particularly for Fisher's performance and Burnham's screenplay and direction. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Eighth Grade takes a look at its titular time period that offers a rare and resounding ring of truth while heralding breakthroughs for writer-director Bo Burnham and captivating star Elsie Fisher." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 49 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times judged the film "sweet and intelligent" and credited Fisher for "an authentic and utterly natural performance". Ty Burr of The Boston Globe also cited Fisher for a performance showing "supreme awkwardness and not a shred of vanity" and Josh Hamilton for playing his part with "an empathetic cringe". The New York Times Manohla Dargis cited Josh Hamilton as "note-perfect". Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post highlighted Fisher for "a raw, radiantly generous performance". Varietys Peter Debruge judged the film "achingly honest" but clichéd in having Kayla infatuated with one boy (played by Luke Prael) and ignoring a better love interest (played by Jake Ryan) until the later acts.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone hailed Eighth Grade as "special and unique" for its "empathy", writing it is neutral on the Internet's effects on society but Kayla is addicted to electronics. For The New Yorker, Naomi Fry credited Eighth Grade with "queasy verisimilitude" and exploring the impact of social media on the lives of teenagers. Forbes contributor Dani Di Placido wrote the depiction of electronics was better than in most films, showing they were "powerful communicative tools that can isolate us, or bring us together, depending on how we choose to use them".