Masterminds
Synopsis
David Ghantt discovers the true meaning of adventure far beyond his wildest dreams. He is an uncomplicated man stuck in a monotonous life. Day in and day out he drives an armored vehicle, transporting millions of other people's money with no escape in sight. The only glimmer of excitement is his flirtatious work crush Kelly Campbell who soon lures him into the scheme of a lifetime. Along with a group of half-brained criminals led by Steve Chambers and an absurdly faulted heist plan, David manages the impossible and makes off with $17 million in cash...only problem is he foolishly hands the money over to this wild group of double crossers and has been set up to take the fall. With the bandits blowing the millions on lavish and ridiculous luxuries, they leave behind a glaring trail of evidence. Now on the lam and in over his head, David must dodge the authorities, evade a hilarious hit man, Mike McKinney, and try to turn the tables on the ones he trusted most.
Production Budget Analysis
What was the production budget for Masterminds?
Directed by Jared Hess, with Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig leading the cast, Masterminds was produced by Broadway Video with a confirmed budget of $25,000,000, placing it in the low-budget category for action films.
At $25,000,000, Masterminds was produced on a modest budget. Lower-budget films benefit from reduced break-even thresholds, with profitability achievable at approximately $62,500,000.
Budget Comparison — Similar Productions
• 1408 (2007): Budget $25,000,000 | Gross $133,000,000 → ROI: 432% • A Journal for Jordan (2021): Budget $25,000,000 | Gross $6,700,000 → ROI: -73% • Abandon (2002): Budget $25,000,000 | Gross $10,719,357 → ROI: -57% • All My Life (2020): Budget $25,000,000 | Gross $2,000,000 → ROI: -92% • August Rush (2007): Budget $25,000,000 | Gross $66,122,026 → ROI: 164%
Key Budget Allocation Categories
▸ Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects Action films allocate a substantial portion of their budget to choreographing and executing practical stunts, pyrotechnics, and CGI-heavy sequences. For large-scale productions, VFX alone can account for 20–30% of the total budget, with additional costs for stunt coordinators, rigging, and safety crews.
▸ Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation. Lead actors in major action franchises typically earn $10–25 million per film, with directors often receiving comparable compensation packages tied to box office performance.
▸ Production Design, Sets & Locations Action films frequently require multiple international shooting locations, large-scale set construction, vehicle acquisitions and modifications, and specialized equipment — all of which drive production costs well above those of dialogue-driven genres.
Key Production Personnel
CAST: Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones Key roles: Zach Galifianakis as David Ghantt; Owen Wilson as Steve Chambers; Kristen Wiig as Kelly Campbell; Kate McKinnon as Jandice
DIRECTOR: Jared Hess CINEMATOGRAPHY: Erik Wilson MUSIC: Geoff Zanelli EDITING: Keith Brachmann, David Rennie PRODUCTION: Broadway Video, Relativity Media, Michaels-Goldwyn FILMED IN: United States of America
Box Office Performance
Masterminds earned $17,368,022 domestically and $11,831,978 internationally, for a worldwide total of $29,200,000. Revenue was split 59% domestic / 41% international.
Break-Even Analysis
Using the industry-standard 2.5x multiplier (P&A + exhibitor shares of 40–50% + distribution fees), Masterminds needed approximately $62,500,000 to break even. The film fell $33,300,000 short in theatrical revenue. Ancillary streams (home media, streaming, TV) may have bridged the gap.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Revenue: $29,200,000 Budget: $25,000,000 Net: $4,200,000 ROI: 16.8%
Profitability Assessment
VERDICT: Modestly Profitable
Masterminds earned $29,200,000 against a $25,000,000 budget (17% ROI). Full profitability was likely achieved through ancillary revenue streams.
INDUSTRY IMPACT
PRODUCTION NOTES
▸ Production
On February 1, 2013, Jim Carrey joined the cast. On June 10, 2013, Owen Wilson joined the cast. On December 3, 2013, Zach Galifianakis joined the cast when Carrey dropped out. On May 16, 2014, Kristen Wiig joined the cast, The film was produced by Brent Almond. David Ghantt was a technical consultant, but due to outstanding court-ordered restitution for his part in the heist, he was not paid.
▸ Filming & Locations
The title used in media coverage was Untitled Armored Car. Principal photography began on July 7, 2014, in Old Fort and Swannanoa, in the Asheville area of North Carolina.
On July 29, Galifianakis was spotted in a prisoner's costume during filming in a redressed street in downtown Asheville. The BB&T Center building, also the location of the production office, was transformed into the "Park Street Citizens Bank", with a Loomis Fargo burgundy truck parked outside. Scenes were also filmed on the steps of Buncombe County Courthouse, inside the Buncombe County Jail, and in front of the Mediterranean Restaurant.
[Filming] The title used in media coverage was Untitled Armored Car. Principal photography began on July 7, 2014, in Old Fort and Swannanoa, in the Asheville area of North Carolina.
On July 29, Galifianakis was spotted in a prisoner's costume during filming in a redressed street in downtown Asheville. The BB&T Center building, also the location of the production office, was transformed into the "Park Street Citizens Bank", with a Loomis Fargo burgundy truck parked outside. Scenes were also filmed on the steps of Buncombe County Courthouse, inside the Buncombe County Jail, and in front of the Mediterranean Restaurant.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Summary: 1 nomination total
CRITICAL RECEPTION
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 100 critic reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Masterminds great cast and stranger-than-fiction true story are largely wasted on a scattershot comedy with a handful of funny moments and far too much wackiness." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, mainly criticizing its lack of good jokes: "The laughs evaporate almost as soon as they land, and some (make that most) of them don't land at all.... Masterminds owes us our two hours back." On the other hand, Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars, stating that "If smart dumb comedies hold a place in your heart, you'll like 'Masterminds.'" Although he acknowledged the film's weakness in its length, structure, and pacing, he emphasized that "Most of the time in these kinds of films the notes of sweetness, naivete and regret feel forced.... Here, though, you believe the sweetness, because Hess and his cast sell it with poker faces." Richard Brody of The New Yorker also gave praise to the film, writing that "Yes, the comedy is funny—even when it's not laugh-out-loud funny, it's sparklingly inventive and charmingly loopy—but, above all, it has the religious intensity and spiritual resonance that marks all of Hess's other films, and it extends his world of ideas into wild new realms, extends his vision into darker corners of existence than he had formerly contemplated." He also observed the filmmaking of Hess as "suggest[ing] a kinship with the transcendental cinema of Robert Bresson and Carl Theodor Dreyer....
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