What is the budget of Max?

"Max," a adventure released in 2015, was directed by Boaz Yakin and stars Thomas Haden Church, Josh Wiggins. The production budget was $20,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for adventure productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

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.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director): A-list talent commands significant upfront fees plus backend participation.
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.
Production: In May 2014, Variety reported that Boaz Yakin would direct the family film titled Max for Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Principal photography began in North Carolina on May 12, 2014.

What were the major cost factors in Max?

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

Stunts: Stunts, Action Sequences & Visual Effects is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.
Above-the-Line Talent (Cast: Above-the-Line Talent (Cast & Director) is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.
Production Design: Production Design, Sets & Locations is one of the primary cost drivers in adventure productions of this scale.

How Does Max's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $20,000,000, Max sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

12 Years a Slave (2013): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $187,000,000
21 Grams (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $60,427,839
3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $11,798,854
A Guy Thing (2003): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,400,000
A Most Violent Year (2014): Budget $20,000,000, Worldwide Gross $12,007,070

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

Max Box Office Performance

"Max" earned $42,656,255 domestically and $43,956,255 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $20,000,000, the film showed modest profitability in theatrical release.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Max," that break-even threshold was roughly $40,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $43,956,255, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $20,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $43,956,255
Net Return: $23,956,255
ROI: approximately 119.8%

At 119.8%, "Max" earned roughly $2.2 for every $1 invested in production.

Awards and Recognition

1 nomination total

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 37% based on 98 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Max has good intentions and tries to hearken back to classic family-friendly features, but its disjointed, manipulative plot overwhelms the efforts of its talented human and canine stars." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.