Synopsis

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick. What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane. Will Traynor knows a road accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that. What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of color. And neither of them knows they're going to change each other for all time.

What is the budget of Me Before You?

"Me Before You," a drama released in 2016, was directed by Thea Sharrock and stars Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin. The production budget was $20,000,000, placing it in the mid-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: On 2 April 2014, it was announced Thea Sharrock would direct the film.

What were the major cost factors in Me Before You?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Me Before You."

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 Me Before You's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $20,000,000, Me Before You 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 drama films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Me Before You Box Office Performance

"Me Before You" earned $56,245,075 domestically and $207,945,075 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $20,000,000, the film performed strongly at the box office.

A film typically needs to earn approximately twice its production budget to cover marketing and distribution costs. For "Me Before You," that break-even threshold was roughly $40,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $207,945,075, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $20,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $207,945,075
Net Return: $187,945,075
ROI: approximately 939.7%

At 939.7%, "Me Before You" earned roughly $10.4 for every $1 invested in production.

Me Before You Production History

On 2 April 2014, it was announced Thea Sharrock would direct the film. Before casting, Emilia Clarke knew she wanted to audition for this role, saying, "That's just kind of an interesting concoction I hadn't read before". On 2 September 2014, Clarke and Sam Claflin were cast in the film. with Jenna Coleman and Charles Dance cast on 2 April 2015.

Principal photography began on 29 April 2015 and ended on 26 June 2015. The film was shot in various locations in the United Kingdom, including: *Pembroke Castle in Pembroke, Wales (the Traynors' estate); *Wytham Abbey in Oxfordshire, England (the Traynors' home within the castle walls); *Sandown Park Racecourse in Esher, Surrey, England (horse race and airport check-in scenes); *Harrow, London (Lou's family home) and Chenies Manor House in Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England (wedding scenes); and *Mallorca, Spain, which stands in for Mauritius. [Filming] Principal photography began on 29 April 2015 and ended on 26 June 2015.

Awards and Recognition

6 wins & 6 nominations total

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 54% based on reviews from 180 critics, and an average rating of 5.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Me Before You benefits from Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin's alluring chemistry, although it isn't enough to compensate for its clumsy treatment of a sensitive subject." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.