Knives Out Budget

What is the budget of Knives Out?

"Knives Out," a comedy released in 2019, was directed by Rian Johnson and stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans. The production budget was $40,000,000, 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.
• Casting: Employing an ensemble cast of established stars was one of Johnson's initial demands.

What were the major cost factors in Knives Out?

Several factors contributed to the overall production costs of "Knives Out."

• 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 Knives Out's Budget Compare to Similar Films?

At $40,000,000, Knives Out sits in the mid-budget range. Here is how it compares to productions with a similar budget:

• 42 (2013): Budget $40,000,000, Worldwide Gross $95,020,213
• A Few Good Men (1992): Budget $40,000,000, Worldwide Gross $243,240,178
• Big Trouble (2002): Budget $40,000,000, Worldwide Gross $8,493,890
• Boomerang (1992): Budget $40,000,000, Worldwide Gross $131,052,444
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015): Budget $40,000,000, Worldwide Gross $569,651,467

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

Knives Out Box Office Performance

"Knives Out" earned $100,512,095 domestically and $312,897,920 worldwide at the box office. Against a production budget of $40,000,000, 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 "Knives Out," that break-even threshold was roughly $80,000,000. With worldwide earnings of $312,897,920, the film cleared that threshold comfortably.

• Production Budget: $40,000,000
• Worldwide Gross: $312,897,920
• Net Return: $272,897,920
• ROI: approximately 682.2%

At 682.2%, "Knives Out" earned roughly $7.82 for every $1 invested in production.

Knives Out Production History

Employing an ensemble cast of established stars was one of Johnson's initial demands. He drew upon the Agatha Christie films,chiefly Peter Ustinov-starred projects à la Death on the Nile (1978) and Evil Under the Sun (1982),for his casting choices because he felt they have a sense of spectacle that was worth replicating. The filmmakers focused on actors who were available in the six week period before filming for Knives Out began.

Bergman was assembling the filmmaking crew while Johnson revised the script in early 2018. Bergman scouted several homes with his team before centering the film's production on two sprawling mansions in suburban Boston: a privately owned nineteenth-century Gothic Revival manor that was used for exterior shots, and Ames Mansion, a 20-room historic landmark in Borderland State Park in Easton. Most of the interior shots, including intense, confrontational scenes with Harlan and his relatives and conversational scenes of Blanc's investigation, took place in Ames Mansion.

Rian Johnson pitched Knives Out to composer Nathan Johnson,cousin and another frequent associate,as early as 2009. Their first conversation concerned the context of music in the opening scenes, and they sought a score that reflected the film's key events and drama with an abrasive classical sound. Nathan recorded the Knives Out score with an orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London, UK.

Awards and Recognition

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 52 wins & 114 nominations total

Critical Reception

Knives Out opened to widely positive reviews; by the end of 2019, it was considered one of the year's best films by the American Film Institute, National Board of Review, and the mainstream press in ranked lists. A routinely discussed aspect in the media was the scriptwriting. Knives Out received notice for its unusual plot structure; reviewers said the film defied expectations by using numerous narrative twists and by satirizing murder-mystery tropes.