Thanksgiving Budget

What is the budget of Thanksgiving?

"Thanksgiving," a horror released in 2023, was directed by Eli Roth and stars Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque. The production budget was $15,000,000, placing it in the low-budget range for horror productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

While specific budget breakdowns are not publicly available, typical cost drivers for a horror production like this include:

• Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup: Horror productions invest disproportionately in practical effects , prosthetic applications, animatronics, blood and gore effects, and creature suits. A single hero creature suit can cost $50,000 to 200,000.
• Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography: Creating dread through environment is essential. Abandoned locations must be secured and dressed, lighting rigs designed for shadow and tension, and sets built to enable specific camera movements and reveals.
• Sound Design & Score: Horror is arguably the most sound-dependent genre. Foley work, ambient textures, frequency manipulation, and jump-scare stingers require specialized sound designers working with unconventional techniques.
• Production: After director Eli Roth created the fake movie trailer, Thanksgiving, for the film Grindhouse (2007), plans for a feature-length adaptation began.

What were the major cost factors in Thanksgiving?

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

• Practical Effects: Practical Effects, Prosthetics & Makeup is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
• Atmospheric Production Design: Atmospheric Production Design & Cinematography is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.
• Sound Design: Sound Design & Score is one of the primary cost drivers in horror productions of this scale.

How Does Thanksgiving's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $15,000,000, Thanksgiving sits in the low-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• A Dangerous Method (2011): Budget $15,000,000, Worldwide Gross $27,462,041
• Ben-Hur (1959): Budget $15,000,000, Worldwide Gross $164,000,000
• Land of the Dead (2005): Budget $15,000,000, Worldwide Gross $47,074,133
• Into the Wild (2007): Budget $15,000,000, Worldwide Gross $56,255,142
• King's Ransom (2005): Budget $15,000,000, Worldwide Gross $4,139,856

The median budget for wide-release horror films in the 2020s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Thanksgiving Box Office Performance

"Thanksgiving" earned $31,908,884 domestically and $46,553,280 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $15,000,000, 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 "Thanksgiving," that break-even threshold was roughly $30,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $46,553,280, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

• Production Budget: $15,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $46,553,280
• Net Return: $31,553,280
• ROI: approximately 210.4%

At 210.4%, "Thanksgiving" earned roughly $3.1 for every $1 invested in production.

Awards and Recognition

1 win & 15 nominations total

Critical Reception

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 73% overall positive score. Frank Scheck ended his positive review saying, "There are times you can feel Thanksgiving straining too mightily for a cult status it's not likely to achieve. But it seems a safe bet the film will be trotted out like a turkey on cable channels and streaming services for many Thanksgivings to come". The San Francisco Chronicles G.