The Perfect Date Budget

What Is the Budget of The Perfect Date (2019)?

The Perfect Date (2019), directed by Chris Nelson and produced by AwesomenessFilms and Netflix, was made on an estimated budget of approximately $8,000,000 to $12,000,000. The figure is consistent with AwesomenessFilms-Netflix teen romantic comedies of the 2018 to 2019 streaming wave that followed the breakout success of To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018).

AwesomenessFilms, the Viacom-owned division (now Paramount Global) that built the Netflix teen-romantic-comedy pipeline, produced through Matthew Kaplan and Brad Schwartz. Noah Centineo, fresh off his breakout performance in To All the Boys, anchored the film in his first lead role following the Lana Condor pairing.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

The Perfect Date's estimated budget covered the following production areas:

• Above-the-Line Cast: Noah Centineo led at his post-To All the Boys-breakout rate. Laura Marano (Disney's Austin & Ally) and Camila Mendes (Riverdale) played the two romantic leads. Matt Walsh (Veep) played Brooks's father, with Odiseas Georgiadis as his best friend Murph.
• Director and Producer Fees: Chris Nelson directed his second feature, having previously helmed Cruel Will (2014). Matthew Kaplan and Brad Schwartz produced through AwesomenessFilms.
• Connecticut Production: Filming in Atlanta, Georgia (standing in for Connecticut) took advantage of Georgia's 20 to 30 percent qualifying-spend tax credit, the standard Netflix-AwesomenessFilms production location for the teen-romantic-comedy slate.
• Production Design: The film features high school settings, the wealthy-family interiors that contrast Brooks's middle-class background, and the various fake-date settings (an art museum, a country club, a charity event, etc.) that anchor the romantic-comedy device.
• Cinematography: Carmen Cabana shot in bright, saturated teen-comedy palettes typical of the Netflix-AwesomenessFilms aesthetic.
• Costume Design: Camila Mendes's wardrobe required high-end teen-fashion looks consistent with her Riverdale persona, while Laura Marano's character is more grounded in indie-girl aesthetic.
• Score and Music: Drum & Lace composed the score, with the soundtrack incorporating contemporary indie-pop tracks targeted at the Netflix teen audience.
• Marketing and Distribution: Netflix's launch campaign relied on the Noah Centineo post-To All the Boys momentum, with social-led marketing through Instagram and TikTok placement targeting the established teen-romantic-comedy audience.

How Does The Perfect Date's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

The Perfect Date's estimated $8 to $12 million budget aligns with Netflix-AwesomenessFilms teen romantic comedies of the streaming wave:

• To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018): Budget approximately $5,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). The breakout title at a smaller scale.
• Sierra Burgess Is a Loser (2018): Budget approximately $5,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). A comparable Netflix teen romantic comedy.
• Set It Up (2018): Budget approximately $20,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). A higher-budget Netflix romantic comedy comparison.
• The Kissing Booth (2018): Budget approximately $7,000,000 | Worldwide N/A (Netflix). A comparable Netflix teen romance benchmark.

The Perfect Date Box Office Performance

The Perfect Date premiered globally on Netflix on April 12, 2019. No theatrical release accompanied the streaming launch, so no box office gross was reported.

• Production Budget: approximately $8,000,000 to $12,000,000 (not publicly confirmed)
• Estimated Prints & Advertising (P&A): approximately $3,000,000 (digital-led, social-focused)
• Total Estimated Investment: approximately $11,000,000 to $15,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: not separately reported (streaming-only release)
• Net Return: streaming subscriber metrics (not disclosed by Netflix)
• ROI: measured by Netflix in viewership and retention

Netflix described The Perfect Date as one of the top viewed Netflix Originals of the April 2019 release window, with strong international engagement particularly in Latin America (where Camila Mendes's Riverdale fanbase contributed) and Southeast Asia. The film charted in Netflix's top ten English-language films globally for multiple weeks following release.

Without separately reported viewership, return is measured through Netflix retention and the consolidated value of the Noah Centineo teen-romantic-comedy slate. Centineo subsequently starred in The Stand and Charlie's Angels (2019) and entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2024 as part of the broader streaming-launched-star trajectory.

The Perfect Date Production History

The Perfect Date adapts the 2008 young-adult novel The Stand-In by Steve Bloom. Netflix and AwesomenessFilms optioned the novel in 2017 as part of the AwesomenessFilms-Netflix multi-picture deal that produced To All the Boys, Sierra Burgess, and other teen-romantic-comedy titles.

Noah Centineo attached as lead in late 2018, leveraging his post-To All the Boys-breakout momentum. Laura Marano and Camila Mendes signed on shortly after, with the Camila Mendes casting carrying Riverdale crossover appeal.

Chris Nelson attached to direct in late 2018. Matthew Kaplan and Brad Schwartz produced through AwesomenessFilms. The screenplay credit went to Steve Bloom (his own novel) and Randall Green.

Principal photography ran from October through November 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia (standing in for Connecticut), with Georgia's 20 to 30 percent qualifying-spend tax credit substantially offsetting cost. The production took advantage of the Georgia film-production infrastructure that had become the standard base for Netflix-AwesomenessFilms teen-romantic-comedy productions.

Post-production extended through early 2019. Drum & Lace composed the score with contemporary indie-pop tracks licensed for the soundtrack. Netflix released the film globally on April 12, 2019.

Awards and Recognition

The Perfect Date received the 2020 Kids' Choice Award nomination for Favorite Movie. Noah Centineo earned Teen Choice Award and MTV Movie & TV Award nominations for Best Performance. The film did not figure in adult-industry awards races at the Oscars, Globes, or guild ceremonies, consistent with its target audience and streaming-romantic-comedy positioning. Industry attention focused on the film's place in the broader Netflix-AwesomenessFilms teen-romantic-comedy ecosystem that established the streaming romantic-comedy revival of the late 2010s.

Critical Reception

The Perfect Date holds a 33 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from twenty-seven critics with an average rating of 4.7 out of 10 and an audience score of 51 percent. Metacritic recorded a 50 out of 100 weighted average from eight critics, signaling mixed reviews.

Common Sense Media awarded the film three stars, calling it 'a frothy, harmless Netflix teen rom-com that works as long as you don't think too hard about Noah Centineo's character.' Charles Pulliam-Moore in Gizmodo found the screenplay 'unable to resolve the contradictions of a story about a young man monetizing his identity.' Critical pushback focused on the screenplay's slim premise (the fake-dating app device) and the underdevelopment of Laura Marano's Celia character relative to the Camila Mendes role. Defenders pointed to Noah Centineo's effortless screen presence and the easy chemistry between the leads as compensating strengths. CinemaScore polling was not conducted given the streaming-only release.