Project Power Budget

What Is the Budget of Project Power (2020)?

Project Power (2020), directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman and released by Netflix, was produced on a reported budget of approximately $85,000,000. The figure was disclosed in trade press coverage of the production and aligns with the upper tier of Netflix's 2019 and 2020 original action film slate, which included Triple Frontier, 6 Underground, and Extraction. Netflix financed the entire production through its in-house features arm, in partnership with Bryan Unkeless' Screen Arcade and Eric Newman's Grass Skirt Productions.

At approximately $85,000,000, Project Power positioned itself as a mid-budget tentpole within the Netflix originals pipeline. The figure covered an A-list lead in Jamie Foxx, a co-lead in Joseph Gordon-Levitt at full quote, a New Orleans principal photography block, extensive practical and digital visual effects to render the superpower set pieces, and a streaming-first global rollout. The film served as a calculated test of Netflix's ability to produce original action material at studio-tentpole scale and deliver subscriber engagement rather than theatrical recoupment.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

Project Power's reported $85,000,000 budget was distributed across the standard major-studio action allocation:

• Above-the-Line Talent: Jamie Foxx, an Oscar winner for Ray and a long-established action lead, commanded a top-of-market streaming quote. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Dominique Fishback took co-lead and breakout-supporting rates respectively, with Fishback positioned for a star-launch push. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, coming off the Paranormal Activity 3 and 4 and Nerve, worked at studio-tentpole rates, and screenwriter Mattson Tomlin received both writing fees and producer credit on his original spec.
• New Orleans Location Shoot: Principal photography took place across Louisiana, primarily in New Orleans, with shooting blocks in the French Quarter, the Bywater, and on the Mississippi River. The Louisiana tax credit program offered a transferable credit of up to 40 percent on qualified spend, generating a substantial offset against the production's above-the-line and below-the-line Louisiana expenditure.
• Visual Effects: The film's central premise required dozens of distinct superpower visual effects sequences, from human combustion to bulletproof skin to elastic-limb transformations. Multiple visual effects vendor houses contributed shots, with the heaviest creature and pyrotechnic work involving substantial CG character work and full-CG sequences. The visual effects line item was a significant share of total production spend.
• Stunts and Action Choreography: The film's extended action sequences, including a French Quarter rooftop chase, a flaming hand-to-hand encounter, and a climactic ship-based gun battle, required extensive stunt coordination, practical pyro, and on-set safety supervision. Stunt rigging, vehicle work, and weapon armorers added to the action-department line.
• Production Design and Practical FX: Production designer Steve Saklad anchored the New Orleans-set design with a mix of practical interior builds and location dressing. Practical pyrotechnic effects supported the central conceit alongside the CG, with on-set effects teams handling the burning-hand and bullet-grazing practical components.
• Score and Soundtrack: Composer Joseph Trapanese scored the film with an electronic-driven action score. The soundtrack included needle drops from contemporary hip-hop artists including Machine Gun Kelly, who also appears in the film, and the music licensing budget supported the New Orleans bounce and trap atmosphere central to the film's sonic identity.

How Does Project Power's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At approximately $85,000,000, Project Power sits in the mid-budget Netflix original action tier. The comparison set illustrates the studio's positioning of the title:

• Extraction (2020): Budget approximately $65,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). Sam Hargrave's Chris Hemsworth-led streaming action film cost approximately 25 percent less than Project Power and drew approximately 99,000,000 Netflix household views in its first 28 days, exceeding Project Power's reported 75,000,000 first-month household engagement.
• 6 Underground (2019): Budget approximately $150,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). Michael Bay's Ryan Reynolds-fronted Netflix action picture cost roughly 75 percent more than Project Power and drew 83,000,000 households in 28 days, a marginal advantage at a substantially higher cost.
• Bright (2017): Budget approximately $90,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). David Ayer's Will Smith urban-fantasy film operated at a near-identical budget and pioneered the Netflix tentpole-action model that Project Power refined.
• Triple Frontier (2019): Budget approximately $115,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). J.C. Chandor's Affleck-Isaac heist drama cost roughly 35 percent more than Project Power and operated as a similar A-list streaming play.
• Chronicle (2012): Budget approximately $12,000,000 | Worldwide $126,636,494. Josh Trank's found-footage superpower drama operated at less than 15 percent of Project Power's budget and earned a 10x theatrical multiple, illustrating the ceiling that low-budget genre execution can reach when distributed theatrically.

Project Power Box Office Performance

Project Power was released directly to Netflix on August 14, 2020, with no theatrical release. The film opened during the COVID-19 theatrical shutdown, when major studios were delaying tentpole releases and Netflix accelerated its global subscriber acquisition through original action programming. The film generated strong first-month engagement metrics and a Top 10 chart position in 90 territories.

• Production Budget: approximately $85,000,000
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): approximately $25,000,000 to $40,000,000 (Netflix global marketing)
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $110,000,000 to $125,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: N/A (Netflix streaming exclusive)
• Net Return: measured in subscriber acquisition and engagement, not theatrical gross
• ROI: reported approximately 75,000,000 household views in 28 days

Netflix reported approximately 75,000,000 household views within the first 28 days of release, placing Project Power among the platform's top original film launches of 2020. The film hit the Top 10 chart in 90 Netflix territories during its opening weekend and remained in the global Top 10 across multiple weeks of August and September 2020.

The platform's strategic calculus for Project Power emphasized subscriber retention, A-list acquisition cost amortization across the slate, and the global engagement footprint of a star-driven action title at a moment when theatrical alternatives were unavailable. The film's downstream impact included a sustained engagement tail through 2020 and 2021 and contributed to Netflix's subsequent expansion of its in-house action production capacity.

Project Power Production History

The Project Power screenplay was written by Mattson Tomlin and circulated as a Black List script in 2017 before being acquired by Netflix in early 2018. Tomlin, who later co-wrote Matt Reeves' The Batman, sold the spec with himself attached to produce. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the directing partnership behind Catfish, Paranormal Activity 3 and 4, Nerve, and Viral, came aboard in 2018 to direct.

Casting Jamie Foxx as Art locked the central A-list pillar in late 2018, followed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Frank and Dominique Fishback as Robin in early 2019. Principal photography ran from October 2018 through February 2019 in Louisiana, primarily across New Orleans and surrounding parishes, leveraging the state's production tax credits to anchor the substantial below-the-line spend.

The shoot encompassed extensive practical set pieces in the French Quarter, on Mississippi River vessels, and inside purpose-built warehouse stages. Stunt coordinator Wade Eastwood and a multi-vendor visual effects team prepared the bulk of the film's superpower sequences across a year-long post-production cycle that ran from spring 2019 through early 2020.

Project Power was originally scheduled for a wider theatrical-and-streaming hybrid release in summer 2020 before COVID-19 prompted Netflix to consolidate to a streaming-exclusive global launch on August 14, 2020. The global marketing campaign emphasized the New Orleans setting, the superpower premise, and the Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt pairing as the primary acquisition drivers across the platform's 190-territory footprint.

Awards and Recognition

Project Power received modest awards recognition consistent with mid-budget streaming action programming. Dominique Fishback drew a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Film, and the film picked up technical-category nominations at the Visual Effects Society Awards for outstanding effects in a streaming feature. The film also drew genre-circuit recognition at the Hollywood Critics Association Awards.

The broader awards landscape did not engage with the title at the major industry ceremonies. Project Power was not nominated at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Film Awards, or Golden Globe Awards. The film's legacy in awards conversation has been concentrated on Dominique Fishback's breakout supporting performance and on the visual effects team's practical-and-digital hybrid execution of the superpower premise.

Critical Reception

Project Power received mixed reviews. The film holds a 60 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 248 critic reviews, with a critical consensus that called it a "high-octane premise" that "would be more fun if it played by its own rules more often." On Metacritic, the film scored 49 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews.

Critics broadly praised Dominique Fishback's breakout performance as the teenage dealer Robin and the visual effects team's execution of the central superpower premise. The Hollywood Reporter's Jordan Mintzer called Fishback "the film's genuine discovery," while Variety's Owen Gleiberman noted that the New Orleans setting and the superpower set pieces "deliver enough visual jolts to compensate for the rote thriller architecture."

Several critics objected to the screenplay's mythology gaps, the underutilization of Jamie Foxx in the second half, and the conventional villain mechanics that close out the third act. The mixed critical reception did not impede the film's strong streaming engagement, which exceeded Netflix's internal benchmarks for original action programming and supported the platform's continued investment in the format.