Incendies Budget

What is the budget of Incendies?

"Incendies," a drama released in 2010, was directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin. The production budget was $6,800,000, placing it in the low-budget range for drama productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

• Above-the-Line Talent: Drama films live or die on the strength of their performances.
• 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.
• Post-Production, Color Grading & Score: The editorial process for dramas is typically longer than genre films, with careful attention to pacing and tone.
• Development: upright|Parts of the story were based on the life of Souha Bechara.

What were the major cost factors in Incendies?

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

• Above-the-Line Talent: Above-the-Line Talent is one of the primary cost drivers in drama productions of this scale.
• Location Filming: Location Filming & Period Production Design is one of the primary cost drivers in drama productions of this scale.
• Post-Production: Post-Production, Color Grading & Score is one of the primary cost drivers in drama productions of this scale.

How Does Incendies's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $6,800,000, Incendies sits in the low-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• Kiki's Delivery Service (1989): Budget $6,900,000, Worldwide Gross $4,493,017
• Dazed and Confused (1993): Budget $6,900,000, Worldwide Gross $8,259,076
• Anatomy of a Fall (2023): Budget $6,700,000, Worldwide Gross $35,634,133
• Capote (2005): Budget $7,000,000, Worldwide Gross $49,327,405
• Norm of the North (2016): Budget $7,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,062,499

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

Incendies Box Office Performance

"Incendies" earned $6,857,096 domestically and $6,788,659 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $6,800,000, the film faced challenges in theatrical release. Home video, streaming, and ancillary revenue may have contributed to its overall performance.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Incendies," that break-even threshold was roughly $13,600,000. With worldwide earnings of $6,788,659, the film did not reach break-even in theatrical release.

• Production Budget: $6,800,000
• Worldwide Gross: $6,788,659
• Net Return: −$11,341
• ROI: approximately -0.2%

At -0.2%, "Incendies" did not recoup its production budget through theatrical release alone.

Incendies Production History

upright|Parts of the story were based on the life of Souha Bechara. The story is based on events that happened during the Lebanese Civil War of 1975 to 1990, but the filmmakers attempted to make the location of the plot ambiguous. Director Denis Villeneuve first saw Wajdi Mouawad's play Incendies at Théâtre de Quat'Sous in Montreal in 2004, commenting "I had this strong intuition that I was in front of a masterpiece".

upright|For the part of Nawal, Villeneuve said he conducted an extensive search for actresses across Canada. He finally met Lubna Azabal, a Belgian actress of Moroccan,Spanish descent in Paris, intrigued by her "expressive and eloquent" face in Paradise Now (2005). Montreal actor Allen Altman, who played a notary, worked with a dialect coach for hours to develop a blend of the French and Arab accents before auditioning.

The film was shot in Montreal and Jordan. For the scenes filmed in Jordan, Villeneuve used a Lebanese and Iraqi crew, though he feared the war scenes would be too reminiscent of bad experiences for them. However, he said the Arab crew members felt "It's important that those sorts of stories are on the screen".

Awards and Recognition

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 41 wins & 20 nominations total

• Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Motion Picture (31st Genie Awards)
• Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film (2010 Toronto International Film Festival)
• Québec Cinéma Award for Best Film (13th Jutra Awards)

Critical Reception

Incendies received highly positive reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports 91% positive reviews based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "It's messy, overlong, and a touch melodramatic, but those flaws pale before Incendies impressive acting and devastating emotional impact." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 80 out 100 based on 42 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".