Meet the Feebles Budget

What is the budget of Meet the Feebles?

"Meet the Feebles," a comedy released in 1989, was directed by Peter Jackson and stars Donna Akersten, Stuart Devenie. The production budget was $750,000, placing it in the micro-budget range for comedy productions of the 1980s.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

• Talent Salaries & Producing Deals: Established comedic talent can command $15 to 20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals.
• Production & Location Filming: While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.
• Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising): Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum.
• Production: The film was originally conceived as part of a television series and only belatedly became a feature after Japanese investors proposed expanding it; as such, the script was hastily re-written.

What were the major cost factors in Meet the Feebles?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Meet the Feebles."

• Talent Salaries: Talent Salaries & Producing Deals is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
• Production: Production & Location Filming is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
• Marketing: Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.

How Does Meet the Feebles's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $750,000, Meet the Feebles sits in the micro-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• The Conformist (1971): Budget $750,000, Worldwide Gross $233,493
• The General (1926): Budget $750,000, Worldwide Gross $1,000,000
• The Night of the Hunter (1955): Budget $795,000
• The Battle of Algiers (1966): Budget $800,000, Worldwide Gross $964,028
• The Grapes of Wrath (1940): Budget $800,000, Worldwide Gross $1,591,000

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

Meet the Feebles Box Office Performance

"Meet the Feebles" earned $80,000 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $750,000, 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 "Meet the Feebles," that break-even threshold was roughly $1,500,000. With worldwide earnings of $80,000, the film did not reach break-even in theatrical release.

• Production Budget: $750,000
• Worldwide Gross: $80,000
• Net Return: −$670,000
• ROI: approximately -89.3%

At -89.3%, "Meet the Feebles" did not recoup its production budget through theatrical release alone.

Meet the Feebles Production History

The film's music was composed by Peter Dasent. The soundtrack was released in 1991 by Q.D.K. Media. ;Track listing

Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 72% based on reviews from 25 critics, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's consensus reads "Dark and vulgar, Meet the Feebles is a backstage comedy featuring puppets that offers proof of Peter Jackson's taste for sheer outrageousness, even if it often lapses into pure juvenilia."