mid90s Budget

What Is the Budget of Mid90s?

Mid90s was produced on an estimated budget of $3 million, placing it firmly in the micro-budget tier for theatrical releases. Writer-director Jonah Hill, making his feature debut behind the camera, deliberately pursued a lean production model that matched the film's grounded, lo-fi aesthetic. A24 backed the project as both producer and distributor, continuing the studio's track record of championing small-scale auteur-driven work.

The modest budget shaped every creative decision, from the choice to shoot on 16mm film stock to the casting of largely unknown and non-professional actors. Hill treated the financial constraint as an artistic advantage, ensuring the film felt authentic to the scrappy skateboard culture it depicted rather than polished or over-produced.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

At $3 million, every dollar had to serve the story. The major cost categories for Mid90s broke down across a handful of focused areas:

• Cast and Talent Sunny Suljic was the only cast member with prior screen credits of note, and the supporting roles went to real skaters (Na-kel Smith, Olan Prenatt, Gio Galicia, Ryder McLaughlin) who brought authenticity over name recognition. Katherine Waterston and Lucas Hedges filled the adult roles. The overall talent cost remained low relative to a typical A24 release.
• Cinematography and Film Stock Christopher Blauvelt shot the film on 16mm with a 4:3 aspect ratio, a deliberate aesthetic choice that evoked home videos of the era. 16mm stock and processing are more expensive per minute than digital, but the short 84-minute runtime and focused shooting schedule kept costs manageable.
• Music and Score Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composed the original score. Licensing period-appropriate tracks from the 1990s for the soundtrack required a meaningful share of the budget, as the music is central to the film's atmosphere.
• Locations and Production Design Filming took place on location in Los Angeles, recreating mid-1990s storefronts, skate shops, and suburban homes. Practical LA locations reduced the need for elaborate set construction, though period dressing (signage, vehicles, wardrobe) added incremental cost.
• Post-Production The 16mm footage required careful color grading to achieve the warm, sun-bleached look Hill wanted. Editing, sound design, and mixing rounded out post costs without any significant visual effects work.

How Does Mid90s's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

Mid90s sits in the lower range of A24 coming-of-age releases. Comparing it to films with similar scope and indie distribution reveals where it lands:

• Eighth Grade (2018) Budget $2 million | Worldwide $14.4 million. Bo Burnham's debut explored adolescence on a similarly tiny budget and outperformed Mid90s at the global box office, demonstrating the ceiling for micro-budget teen-focused dramas.
• Lady Bird (2017) Budget $10 million | Worldwide $79 million. Greta Gerwig's debut cost more than three times Mid90s but operated in the same coming-of-age space. The larger budget went toward a bigger cast and awards-season marketing push.
• Moonlight (2016) Budget $4 million | Worldwide $65 million. Barry Jenkins' Oscar winner shows what a film in the same budget neighborhood can achieve with the right story and festival momentum, though Moonlight's awards trajectory was exceptional.
• Kids (1995) Budget $1.5 million | Worldwide $20.4 million. Larry Clark's controversial skate-culture film is the most direct thematic ancestor of Mid90s, made for half the cost and yielding a much higher return. The comparison underscores how the raw, low-budget approach has always suited this subject matter.
• Skate Kitchen (2018) Budget under $1 million (estimated) | Worldwide limited release. Crystal Moselle's female-centric skate drama released the same year as Mid90s on an even smaller budget, offering a direct peer comparison in both subject and scale.

Mid90s Box Office Performance

Mid90s opened in limited release on October 19, 2018, expanding over the following weeks. It earned $9,397,622 domestically and $10,307,108 worldwide. Against the $3 million production budget, the film needed roughly $6 million at the box office to break even when factoring in prints and advertising costs (the general rule of thumb is 2x the production budget).

By that measure, Mid90s cleared its break-even threshold comfortably. The ROI calculation: ($10.3 million worldwide gross minus $3 million budget) divided by $3 million, multiplied by 100, yields an approximate 243% return on investment before accounting for P&A spend. When marketing costs are included, the margin narrows, but the film was still a profitable result for A24, particularly given its extended life on streaming and home video platforms.

The box office trajectory followed a typical limited-release pattern: a strong per-screen average in its opening weekend ($37,586 across 4 screens), gradual expansion to wider release, and a steady tail driven by word-of-mouth and Jonah Hill's promotional visibility.

• Production Budget: $1,700,000
• Estimated P&A: approximately $500,000
• Total Investment: approximately $2,200,000
• Worldwide Gross: $9,303,022
• Net Return: approximately +$7,100,000
• ROI (on production budget): approximately +447%

Mid90s Production History

Jonah Hill spent years developing the screenplay for Mid90s, drawing on his own childhood experiences growing up in Los Angeles during the 1990s. The project was deeply personal: Hill has spoken publicly about how skateboard culture and the friendships formed at skate shops shaped his adolescence, and the script reflected that autobiographical foundation.

A24 came aboard to produce and distribute, with Scott Rudin and Eli Bush also producing. Hill conducted an extensive casting search for the young ensemble, prioritizing authenticity over acting experience. Sunny Suljic, who was 11 at the time of filming, had appeared in The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) but was still largely unknown. Na-kel Smith and Olan Prenatt were professional skateboarders with no acting credits. Hill reportedly spent months building camaraderie among the young cast before cameras rolled, encouraging them to hang out and skate together so their on-screen bond would feel genuine.

Principal photography took place over 27 days in Los Angeles during summer 2017. Hill and cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt chose 16mm film stock and the boxy 4:3 aspect ratio to mirror the look of 1990s home video and skateboard footage. The tight aspect ratio also placed the viewer inside Stevie's perspective, making the world feel close and intimate rather than expansive.

Mid90s premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018 to warm reviews. A24 positioned it as a fall release, leveraging Hill's celebrity and the film's nostalgic appeal. The marketing leaned heavily on the skateboard culture angle and the period soundtrack, which resonated with both millennial audiences and indie film fans.

Awards and Recognition

Mid90s was Jonah Hill's directorial debut and drew attention primarily for that distinction rather than traditional awards-season traction. The film did not receive major guild or Academy Award nominations, though it earned recognition in several indie and debut-focused categories:

• Toronto International Film Festival (2018) World premiere in the Special Presentations section, generating strong early buzz.
• Independent Spirit Awards The film was recognized within the independent film community, with Hill earning attention as a first-time director.
• Gotham Awards Sunny Suljic received a nomination for Breakthrough Actor for his performance as Stevie.

The film's lasting recognition has been cultural rather than awards-driven. Mid90s became a touchstone for millennial nostalgia and helped establish Jonah Hill as a serious creative voice beyond his acting career. It also raised the profiles of its young cast, particularly Na-kel Smith and Olan Prenatt, who gained wider visibility through the film's release.

Critical Reception

Mid90s holds an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 225 reviews, with a critics' consensus praising it as "a heartfelt, authentic slice-of-life coming-of-age story." On Metacritic, the film scored 68 out of 100, indicating generally favorable reviews with some reservations.

Critics widely praised the film's atmosphere, performances, and Hill's eye for period detail. The 16mm cinematography and 4:3 framing drew particular attention as choices that elevated the material beyond simple nostalgia. Reviewers noted that the young cast brought a rawness and unpredictability that professional child actors might not have delivered. The soundtrack, blending 1990s hip-hop and rock with Reznor and Ross's score, was frequently cited as a highlight.

The primary criticism centered on the film's slim 84-minute runtime and what some reviewers felt was a lack of narrative depth. Several critics observed that Hill captured the texture and feeling of 1990s adolescence convincingly but left the characters somewhat underwritten, particularly the supporting skaters beyond Stevie. Others questioned whether the film romanticized certain reckless behaviors without sufficient examination. Despite these reservations, the consensus held that Mid90s succeeded as an evocative mood piece and a promising debut that signaled Hill's potential as a filmmaker.