10 Movies Made With Shockingly Low Budgets

9. The Conjuring

District 9 Wikus Sharlto Copley
Warner Bros

When you watch a movie like The Conjuring, it doesn't come across as the kind of movie that requires a significant budget, but the actual amount spent making it vs. the total it brought in is actually pretty shocking.

Because the film was shot mostly on a soundstage, parts of the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and parts of the city over the course of only 38 days of shooting, it didn't require a huge production budget.

The film ended up costing a total of only $20 million to make but managed to rake in an impressive $319 million at the worldwide box office. That success launched the film into a franchise, which was followed by two sequels (one of which was still in development in early 2019).

The Conjuring's budget was kept low due to the minimal requirements for shooting, but also due to the removal of between 20 to 30 minutes of film, which would have otherwise required a great deal of post-production work to complete. Given the massive success of the film, it's surprising to see that it ended up costing so little to make.

 
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