Production Budget Analysis

What was the production budget for Hurry Up Tomorrow?

Directed by Trey Edward Shults, with The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan leading the cast, Hurry Up Tomorrow was produced by Manic Phase with a confirmed budget of $15,000,000, placing it in the low-budget category for music films.

At $15,000,000, Hurry Up Tomorrow was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $37,500,000.

Budget Comparison — Similar Productions

• A Dangerous Method (2011): Budget $15,000,000 | Gross $27,462,041 → ROI: 83% • Ben-Hur (1959): Budget $15,000,000 | Gross $164,000,000 → ROI: 993% • Land of the Dead (2005): Budget $15,000,000 | Gross $47,074,133 → ROI: 214% • Into the Wild (2007): Budget $15,000,000 | Gross $56,255,142 → ROI: 275% • King's Ransom (2005): Budget $15,000,000 | Gross $4,139,856 → ROI: -72%

Key Budget Allocation Categories

▸ Above-the-Line Talent Drama films live or die on the strength of their performances. Securing award-caliber actors and experienced directors represents the single largest budget line item, often consuming 30–40% of the total production budget.

▸ Location Filming & Period Production Design Authentic locations — whether contemporary or historical — require scouting, permits, travel, lodging, and often significant dressing to match the story's time period. Period dramas add the cost of era-accurate props, vehicles, and set decoration.

▸ Post-Production, Color Grading & Score The editorial process for dramas is typically longer than genre films, with careful attention to pacing and tone. Color grading, a nuanced musical score, and detailed sound mixing are critical to achieving the emotional resonance that defines the genre.

Key Production Personnel

CAST: The Weeknd, Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan, Riley Keough, Ash T Key roles: The Weeknd as The Weeknd; Jenna Ortega as Anima; Barry Keoghan as Lee; Riley Keough as Girl on Voicemail / Mother (voice)

DIRECTOR: Trey Edward Shults CINEMATOGRAPHY: Chayse Irvin MUSIC: Daniel Lopatin, The Weeknd EDITING: Trey Edward Shults PRODUCTION: Manic Phase, Live Nation Studios FILMED IN: United States of America

Box Office Performance

Hurry Up Tomorrow earned $5,215,357 domestically and $2,547,698 internationally, for a worldwide total of $7,763,055. The film skewed heavily domestic (67%), suggesting strong North American appeal.

Break-Even Analysis

Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Hurry Up Tomorrow needed approximately $37,500,000 to break even. The film fell $29,736,945 short in theatrical revenue. Ancillary streams (home media, streaming, TV) may have bridged the gap.

Return on Investment (ROI)

Revenue: $7,763,055 Budget: $15,000,000 Net: $-7,236,945 ROI: -48.2%

Profitability Assessment

VERDICT: Unprofitable (Theatrical)

Hurry Up Tomorrow earned $7,763,055 against a $15,000,000 budget (-48% ROI), falling short of theatrical profitability. Ancillary revenue may have reduced the deficit.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

The underperformance may have increased risk aversion around low-budget music productions.

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Filming & Locations

When Deadline Hollywood announced Hurry Up Tomorrow on February 28, 2023, principal photography had already begun.

[Filming] When Deadline Hollywood announced Hurry Up Tomorrow on February 28, 2023, principal photography had already begun.

▸ Post-Production

Turen's longtime relationship with filmmaker Sam Levinson, who also worked on The Idol, reportedly deteriorated after Levinson felt "betrayed" that Turen was attached to the project without him knowing.

▸ Music & Score

The film's soundtrack, Hurry Up Tomorrow (Original Motion Picture Score), was released on July 11, 2025. Although it was initially slated for both digital and physical release, it ultimately became available only in physical format, on LP and CD. The soundtrack is a collaborative effort between The Weeknd and Oneohtrix Point Never, featuring 16 original instrumental tracks composed by the duo, alongside ten songs from The Weeknd's own Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) album.

Tracks 1–16 all written and produced by the Weeknd and Oneohtrix Point Never. Tracks 17–26 can be found on Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) as tracks 2, 4, 7, 13, 15, 17 and 19–22, respectively.

Notes * signifies an additional producer * signifies a co-producer * signifies an uncredited producer * signifies a vocal producer.

Sample credits * "Cry for Me" contains a sample of "I Wanna Be the One", written by Curtis Fitzgerald Williams and Karen Patterson, as performed by The S.O.S. Band. * "São Paulo" contains an interpolation of "Montagem Pidona", written by Flavio Seraphim de Almeida, Everton Ramos de Araujo, Marcelo Nei Leal, Tatiana dos Santos Lourenço, Agustinho Raphael dos Santos, Washington Luis Costa Vaz, and Andre Luiz Viegasand, as performed by Tati Quebra Barraco.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 9 nominations total

! scope="row" | Hawaii Film Critics Society

! rowspan="2" scope="row" | MTV Video Music Awards

! rowspan=5 scope="row"| Golden Raspberry Awards

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Critics dismissed the film as an "egomaniacal" and "navel-gazing" vanity project for Tesfaye, and saw it as an extended music video created simply to promote its companion album. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C-" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave the film an average rating of out of 5 stars, with 34% saying they would definitely recommend it. The Daily Beast's Nick Schager echoed his sentiments, writing that the "feature-length ego stroke of monumental hubris" instantly assumed "pole position in the race for the year's worst movie". Jordan Hoffman of Entertainment Weekly described the film as "nearly plot-free, self-indulgent, overly serious, and, worst of all, just dull". The Toronto Star's Alexander Mooney said the film was "remarkable in its ceaseless and shameless capacity for failure, constantly finding new and innovative ways to fall flat on its face". In the headline for his CBC News review, Jackson Weaver wrote: "[Tesfaye] could've gone to therapy. Instead, he made Hurry Up Tomorrow."

Scheck commended Ortega's and Barry Keoghan's "hard-working efforts" in investing their "thinly written" characters with "intense" energy. The A.V. Club's Jesse Hassenger found Ortega to be "the only person in the movie anyone would ever want to spend any time with". He complimented her erratic behavior and "wonderfully expressive" face, which he described as a "bold-lined comic-book drawing come to life; compared to the rest of Hurry Up Tomorrow, regarding images of Ortega shot on film is a splendid use of time". IndieWire's Charles Bramesco, in a more critical analysis, wrote that Tesfaye and Ortega modeled two opposing modes of an "imitative, hollow performance" with "varying notions of good acting": Ortega "doesn't understand how or why" to demonstrate stoicism and inexpressiveness while Tesfaye channeled Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980) "just without the Method behind his mannerisms".