Persuasion Budget

What is the budget of Persuasion?

"Persuasion," a drama released in 1995, was directed by Roger Michell and stars Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds. The production budget was $1,500,000, placing it in the micro-budget range for drama productions of the 1990s.

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.
• Casting: Root made her theatrical film debut playing Anne Elliot, the film's protagonist.

What were the major cost factors in Persuasion?

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

• 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 Persuasion's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $1,500,000, Persuasion sits in the micro-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• Satantango (1994): Budget $1,500,000
• City Lights (1931): Budget $1,500,000, Worldwide Gross $4,250,000
• Tampopo (1985): Budget $1,500,000
• Modern Times (1936): Budget $1,500,000, Worldwide Gross $1,800,000
• Roman Holiday (1953): Budget $1,500,000, Worldwide Gross $12,000,000

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

Persuasion Box Office Performance

"Persuasion" earned $5,269,757 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $1,500,000, 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 "Persuasion," that break-even threshold was roughly $3,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $5,269,757, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

• Production Budget: $1,500,000
• Worldwide Gross: $5,269,757
• Net Return: $3,769,757
• ROI: approximately 251.3%

At 251.3%, "Persuasion" earned roughly $3.51 for every $1 invested in production.

Persuasion Production History

Root made her theatrical film debut playing Anne Elliot, the film's protagonist. The character was described to Root as "haggard", which attracted the actress. "I relish a job like this, starting off downtrodden and gradually blossoming", she said.

As a BBC production, Persuasion originally received a budget of £750,000. The British broadcaster proposed a collaboration with the American public television station WGBH Boston, a partnership that had also produced the American anthology television series Masterpiece Theatre as well as literary adaptations like the serial Pride and Prejudice. Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer of Masterpiece Theatre, approved the co-production as she had a preference for Persuasion out of all Austen's novels.

The soundtrack used Chopin's Prelude in B, Nocturne in B and Prelude in G, and two of J. S. Bach's Sarabandes, in D and in B from his French Suites, the former played by Susan Tomes, the Bach by Sams.

Awards and Recognition

Won 5 BAFTA 7 wins & 2 nominations total

• National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Critical Reception

Persuasion at first failed to attract many reviews. This changed when Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility were released in late 1995 to great success in the UK. Their reception lifted the earlier film out of obscurity, as Austen's popularity became apparent among critics. Persuasion garnered highly positive reviews from major film critics, and review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes has since calculated a rating of 87%, which refers to the percentage of positive reviews based on 30 critics.