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23 low-budget films that made millions

Blockbusters on a budget
Moonlight: made $80.2 million (£63.5m)
Open Water: made $88.9 million (£70.4m)
The Devil Inside: made $131.3 million (£104m)
Insidious: made $132.5 million (£104.9m)
Evil Dead Rise: made $134.7 million (£106.5m)
Saw: made $165 million (£130.5m)
M3GAN: made $168 million (£132.9m)
Lost in Translation: made $187.8 million (£148.6m)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: made $197.4 million (£156.2m)
Smile: made $200.4 million (£158.6m)
The Terminator: made $209.2 million (£165.6m)
Friday the 13th: made $228.8 million (£181m)
Night of the Living Dead: made $260.2 million (£205.9m)
Paranormal Activity: made $284.4 million (£225m)
Get Out: made $307.6 million (£243.4m)
Juno: made $330.8 million (£261.7m)
Halloween: made $331.5 million (£262.2m)
Mad Max: made $432.8 million (£342.4m)
The Blair Witch Project: made $450.5 million (£356.4m)
The Full Monty: made $476.2 million (£376.7m)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: made $611.4 million (£483.6m)
American Graffiti: made $972.8 million (£769.5m)
Rocky: made $1.2 billion (£950m)
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Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Blockbusters on a budget

You don't need a big budget to make a hit movie.

From a horror film that cost just $15,000 (£11.9k) to billion-dollar franchises started on a shoestring, read on for some films that managed to gross many millions of dollars worldwide without the price tag you'd expect. All dollar values in US dollars and adjusted for inflation. 

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Danielle McAdam

29 August 2023

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