What is the budget of Why Him?

"Why Him," a comedy released in 2016, was directed by John Hamburg and stars Bryan Cranston, James Franco. The production budget was $38,000,000, placing it in the mid-budget range for comedy productions of its era.

Key Budget Allocation Categories

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

Talent Salaries & Producing Deals: Established comedic talent can command $15 to 20 million per film, with top-tier stars earning even more through producing credits and backend deals.
Production & Location Filming: While comedies generally avoid the VFX costs of action films, location shooting in recognizable cities or exotic locales adds meaningful production expense.
Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising): Comedies rely heavily on marketing to build opening-weekend momentum.

What were the major cost factors in Why Him?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Why Him."

Talent Salaries: Talent Salaries & Producing Deals is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
Production: Production & Location Filming is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.
Marketing: Marketing & P&A (Prints & Advertising) is one of the primary cost drivers in comedy productions of this scale.

How Does Why Him's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $38,000,000, Why Him sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

Weapons (2025): Budget $38,000,000, Worldwide Gross $269,972,492
The Fast and the Furious (2001): Budget $38,000,000, Worldwide Gross $207,283,925
News of the World (2020): Budget $38,000,000, Worldwide Gross $12,700,000
Only the Brave (2017): Budget $38,000,000, Worldwide Gross $25,754,775
Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017): Budget $38,000,000 , Gross $125,427,681

The median budget for wide-release comedy films in the 2010s ranges from $30 to 80M for mid-budget to $150M+ for tentpoles.

Why Him Box Office Performance

"Why Him" earned $118,102,725 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $38,000,000, 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 "Why Him," that break-even threshold was roughly $76,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $118,102,725, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

Production Budget: $38,000,000
Worldwide Gross: $118,102,725
Net Return: $80,102,725
ROI: approximately 210.8%

At 210.8%, "Why Him" earned roughly $3.11 for every $1 invested in production.