Synopsis

Alton Meyer is a boy unlike any other in the world with bizarrely powerful abilities and strange weaknesses. In the middle of the night, his father, Roy, spirits him away from the isolated cult that practically worships him and is determined to regain him at all costs. At the same time, Alton's abilities have been noticed by the US government as well and they are equally insistent on getting to the bottom of this mystery with Paul Sevier of the National Security Agency leading the Federal pursuit with his own questions. These rival hunts force father and son into a desperate run towards a looming date with destiny that could change everything.

What is the budget of Midnight Special?

"Midnight Special," a adventure released in 2016, was directed by Jeff Nichols and stars Michael Shannon, Jaeden Martell. The production budget was $18,000,000, placing it in the low-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: Principal photography commenced on January 20, 2014, and took place for 40 days in New Orleans, wrapping on March 1, 2014.

What were the major cost factors in Midnight Special?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Midnight Special."

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 Midnight Special's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $18,000,000, Midnight Special sits in the low-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

127 Hours (2010): Budget $18,000,000, Worldwide Gross $35,700,000
A Dog's Way Home (2019): Budget $18,000,000, Worldwide Gross $17,643,857
Amadeus (1984): Budget $18,000,000, Worldwide Gross $90,007,557
And So It Goes (2014): Budget $18,000,000, Worldwide Gross $25,312,387
Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004): Budget $18,000,000 , Gross $65,070,412

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

Midnight Special Box Office Performance

"Midnight Special" earned $3,712,282 domestically and $7,112,282 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $18,000,000, 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 "Midnight Special," that break-even threshold was roughly $36,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $7,112,282, the film did not reach break-even in theatrical release.

Production Budget: $18,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $7,112,282
Net Return: −$10,887,718
ROI: approximately -60.5%

At -60.5%, "Midnight Special" did not recoup its production budget through theatrical release alone.

Awards and Recognition

3 wins & 14 nominations total

Critical Reception

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 83% approval rating based on 240 reviews; the average score is 7.30/10. The site's consensus reads, "Midnight Specials intriguing mysteries may not resolve themselves to every viewer's liking, but the journey is ambitious, entertaining, and terrifically acted." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".