In the Shadow of the Moon Budget

What Is the Budget of In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)?

In the Shadow of the Moon (2019), directed by Jim Mickle and produced by 21 Laps Entertainment for Netflix, was financed without a publicly disclosed budget. Industry estimates from production sources and comparable Netflix Originals of similar scope place the cost in the $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 range, accounting for the multi-decade period production design, prosthetic effects, and roughly forty-day shooting schedule.

Netflix acquired the project from 21 Laps Entertainment (Stranger Things, Arrival) in 2017, with Shawn Levy producing alongside Linda McDonough. The streaming service positioned the original sci-fi thriller as a genre offering for its fall 2019 slate, with a September 27, 2019 release date.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

In the Shadow of the Moon's estimated budget covered the following production areas:

• Above-the-Line Cast: Boyd Holbrook (Logan, Narcos) led as Thomas Lockhart, with Cleopatra Coleman, Michael C. Hall (Dexter), Bokeem Woodbine (Fargo), Rudi Dharmalingam, and Tim Mitchell rounding out the ensemble.
• Director and Producer Fees: Jim Mickle, the genre director known for Cold in July and We Are What We Are, brought a recognized indie-thriller sensibility. Shawn Levy and Linda McDonough produced through 21 Laps Entertainment.
• Multi-Decade Period Production: The screenplay spans 1988 to 2024, requiring four distinct period production-design and costume layers including Philadelphia of the late 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and near-future 2020s. Period vehicles, set decoration, and props for each era added incremental cost.
• Prosthetic Aging Makeup: Boyd Holbrook ages from his late twenties through his sixties across the film. Prosthetic and silicone aging makeup designed and applied by Rocky Faulkner and team required a dedicated department.
• Visual Effects: Time-travel and biological-anomaly sequences required VFX work for blood vessel close-ups, time-displacement imagery, and the climactic third-act reveal. Mr. X and other Toronto vendors contributed.
• Practical Stunt and Action: Multiple chase set pieces, including a subway pursuit and a rooftop confrontation, required stunt coordination and second-unit work.
• Score and Music: Jeff Grace composed the score, with period-appropriate needle drops licensed for each decade segment.
• Marketing: Netflix's launch campaign relied on social and trailer placement rather than traditional P&A, consistent with its global-release model.

How Does In the Shadow of the Moon's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

The estimated $15 to $20 million budget aligns with Netflix-original science-fiction thrillers:

• Looper (2012): Budget $30,000,000 | Worldwide $176,544,654. A larger-budget time-travel thriller comparison.
• Source Code (2011): Budget $32,000,000 | Worldwide $147,332,697. A mid-budget time-loop thriller benchmark.
• Predestination (2014): Budget $5,000,000 | Worldwide $4,725,000. A lower-budget time-paradox thriller comparison.
• Spectral (2016): Budget approximately $35,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). A genre Netflix Original at a higher tier.

In the Shadow of the Moon Box Office Performance

In the Shadow of the Moon premiered globally on Netflix on September 27, 2019. No theatrical release accompanied the streaming launch, so no box office gross was reported.

• Production Budget: approximately $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 (not publicly confirmed)
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): approximately $5,000,000 (digital-focused)
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $20,000,000 to $25,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: not separately reported (streaming-only release)
• Net Return: streaming subscriber metrics (not disclosed)
• ROI: measured by Netflix in viewership and retention

Netflix's third-party-viewership tracker Nielsen later cited the film as one of the top streamed original films in its release week, with social conversation peaking around the time-paradox reveal in the third act. The film helped reinforce 21 Laps Entertainment's relationship with Netflix that produced Stranger Things and subsequent feature originals.

Without separately reported viewership, return is measured through Netflix retention and licensing-value modeling rather than box office.

In the Shadow of the Moon Production History

Screenwriters Gregory Weidman and Geoffrey Tock began developing the story in 2014, pitching a multi-decade procedural with a time-travel mechanism. Their spec script appeared on the 2016 Black List, drawing producer interest from 21 Laps Entertainment after Shawn Levy read it during the run-up to Stranger Things.

Jim Mickle (Stake Land, Cold in July, We Are What We Are) attached to direct in 2017, his first studio-backed feature after a string of independent genre films. Mickle worked closely with the writers to reshape the back half into something more emotionally grounded than the spec's procedural tone.

Boyd Holbrook signed on in early 2018, attracted by the chance to age across four decades on screen. Cleopatra Coleman, Michael C. Hall, and Bokeem Woodbine joined that summer.

Principal photography ran from October through December 2018 in Toronto and surrounding Ontario, with the city standing in for Philadelphia across the multiple decades. The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit provided meaningful production savings, a calculation Netflix routinely makes for its lower-tier originals.

Post-production extended through summer 2019, with Mickle reportedly reshaping the third act in editorial after a test screening. Netflix premiered the film at Fantastic Fest in September 2019 before its September 27 global release.

Awards and Recognition

In the Shadow of the Moon premiered at Fantastic Fest 2019 in Austin, where it played in the festival's Horizons section. The film received a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and earned positive notice from genre critics' associations, though it did not figure in the major awards races at the Oscars, Globes, or Spirit Awards. Boyd Holbrook earned recognition from the Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for his lead performance.

Critical Reception

In the Shadow of the Moon holds a 50 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from sixty-six critics with an average rating of 5.6 out of 10 and an audience score of 56 percent. Metacritic recorded a 55 out of 100 weighted average from twelve critics. Critical response divided sharply between viewers who embraced the time-paradox ambition and those who found the multi-decade structure too compressed.

Manohla Dargis in The New York Times praised Boyd Holbrook's age progression and Jim Mickle's atmospheric Philadelphia. Detractors found the third-act reveal heavy-handed and the political subtext (a coordinated terror campaign motivated by ideological grievance) clumsy. Vulture, Variety, and IndieWire all noted the comparison to Looper while finding the execution less polished. CinemaScore polling was not conducted given the streaming-only release.