Quasi Budget

What Is the Budget of Quasi (2023)?

Quasi (2023), directed by Kevin Heffernan and distributed by Hulu, was produced as a streaming original comedy by the Broken Lizard troupe (Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske). Production budget figures have not been publicly confirmed, but industry estimates place the cost in the $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 range, consistent with the Broken Lizard mid-2010s and 2020s production scale (Super Troopers 2 cost about $13,500,000) and the modest period-comedy production design.

Searchlight Pictures produced the film as a Hulu original under the Searchlight banner, with the streamer functioning as primary distributor. The financing was anchored by Disney through Searchlight rather than the crowdfunding model Broken Lizard had used for Super Troopers 2, reflecting the streamer-friendly comedy economics of the early 2020s. There was no theatrical release.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

Quasi's budget was distributed across several core production areas:

• Cast Compensation: The full Broken Lizard ensemble (Heffernan as Quasi, Lemme, Chandrasekhar, Soter, Stolhanske) headlined, supported by Adrianne Palicki and David Costabile in larger named roles and Brian Cox in a cameo. Star compensation was kept modest by the troupe-internal cost structure but expanded by the named supporting cast.
• Period Production Design: The medieval French setting required period costumes, set dressing, props, and the central Quasi hunchback prosthetic. The Searchlight production absorbed standard period-comedy costs scaled to a streamer release.
• Massachusetts Location Shoot: Principal photography took place in Massachusetts in 2021, qualifying the production for the state 25% film tax credit. Locations included exterior castle and village settings dressed to play as medieval France.
• Practical and Digital Effects: A modest effects budget supported the comedy violence, the prosthetic hunchback, and the digital extensions on the cathedral and palace exteriors. The film did not require extensive creature or environmental VFX.
• Score and Music: Composer Nathan Barr scored the film with a medieval-pastiche orchestral score that supported the Monty Python and the Holy Grail style comedy beats.
• Hulu Marketing: Once Hulu took the film for distribution, Disney absorbed the marketing campaign through Searchlight, including the trailer rollout, social campaigns, and the platform launch placement on April 20, 2023.

How Does Quasi's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

Quasi sits within the Broken Lizard filmography and the broader streamer-comedy ecosystem of the early 2020s:

• Super Troopers 2 (2018): Budget $13,500,000 | Worldwide $33,517,015. The previous Broken Lizard release was crowdfunded and earned roughly 2.5 times its production cost at the theatrical box office. Quasi shifted the same troupe to streaming and forfeited the theatrical revenue track.
• The Slammin Salmon (2009): Budget approximately $4,000,000 | Worldwide $30,000. The lowest-tier Broken Lizard release illustrates the limited theatrical ceiling for the troupe outside the Super Troopers franchise, a structural reality that informed the Hulu-direct strategy on Quasi.
• The Bubble (2022): Budget approximately $50,000,000 | Netflix release. Judd Apatow Netflix comedy from the year before shows the upper end of the streamer-comedy budget tier with a much larger cast and scope. Quasi at roughly one-third the budget targeted the same direct-to-streaming model.
• Vacation Friends (2021): Budget approximately $20,000,000 | Hulu release. The Hulu original from two years prior is the closest direct comparable: a mid-budget original comedy with a defined ensemble that performed well enough on the platform to drive a 2023 sequel.

Quasi Box Office Performance

Quasi did not receive a theatrical release. Hulu launched the film on April 20, 2023, positioning it as a major comedy event for the platform with full Searchlight marketing support. Hulu did not release viewership figures publicly, and the film did not enter the Reelgood or third-party streaming-Top-10 rankings in a sustained way after its first weekend.

• Production Budget: estimated $10,000,000 to $15,000,000
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): not separately reported (folded into Hulu and Searchlight marketing)
• Total Estimated Investment: estimated $10,000,000 to $15,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: not applicable (direct-to-streaming)
• Net Return: recouped via Hulu acquisition fee structure within Disney
• ROI: not separately disclosed by Hulu

The commercial outcome was modest by streaming-comedy standards. Quasi did not generate the sustained word of mouth that Super Troopers 2 generated theatrically in 2018, and no sequel or follow-up Broken Lizard streaming project at Hulu was announced in the immediate aftermath of the release.

Quasi Production History

Quasi originated as an idea that the Broken Lizard troupe had been developing intermittently for more than a decade, with a script credited to all five members of the troupe. Kevin Heffernan was set to direct as well as star, his second feature direction after Super Troopers 2 (2018). Searchlight Pictures and 20th Century Studios acquired the project for Hulu in 2020 as part of the broader Disney push to build out streamer-original comedy inventory.

Principal photography ran in Massachusetts in 2021, with the 25% Massachusetts Film Tax Credit anchoring the choice of shoot location. The production used regional crews experienced from the period work on The Witch, Hostiles, and Knives Out, and built medieval village exteriors on rural Massachusetts locations rather than constructing them on a soundstage.

Post-production extended into 2022 due to scheduling around the Disney corporate review process and the broader Hulu original-content calendar. The film was originally targeted for a late 2022 release and was eventually slotted for April 20, 2023, a date with cannabis-comedy cultural resonance that the marketing emphasized.

Awards and Recognition

Quasi received no significant awards recognition. The film was not nominated at the Critics Choice Awards, the MTV Movie Awards, or the Streamy Awards. As a Hulu-direct release with no theatrical campaign, it fell outside the standard eligibility windows for the Academy Awards and the major guild ceremonies.

Broken Lizard films have historically not been awards plays. The troupe core appeal has always been cult-comedy fan engagement rather than industry recognition, and Quasi commercial and reception profile fit that pattern.

Critical Reception

Quasi received mixed reviews. The film holds a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 49 critic reviews, with a Metacritic score of 53 out of 100 indicating mixed or average reviews. The Rotten Tomatoes audience score was 52%, slightly higher than the critic figure but well below the levels Super Troopers and Super Troopers 2 reached with their cult audiences.

Critics broadly noted that the film delivers in stretches when the Broken Lizard troupe interplay finds its rhythm, but called the screenplay structurally underdeveloped and the medieval setting an awkward fit for the troupe contemporary-style sketch instincts. Variety Owen Gleiberman called it amiable but uneven, and IndieWire David Ehrlich wrote that the film lacks the cohesion that made Super Troopers a sustained cult favorite.

Among Broken Lizard fans, reception was warmer, with social-media reaction emphasizing the troupe ensemble chemistry over the screenplay limitations. The film modest streaming footprint kept it from breaking into wider cultural conversation, and it functioned commercially as a brand-loyalty release for the existing Broken Lizard audience rather than as a new-audience expansion.