4. Paranormal Activity (2009)
Budget: $15,000. Worldwide Box Office: $193,355,800
As this list will have shown, found footage is a blessing for Hollywood studios, incredibly cheap to produce and seemingly very popular among audiences. One of the most successful uses of this method of filming was Paranormal Activity, the 2009 horror film that was genuinely terrifying, something that is not as sure a thing in todays over-inflated market. Like The Blair Witch Project before it, Paranormal Activity was produced for pennies in Hollywood terms; a mere $15,000 production budget was set aside, with the film eventually totalling a gargantuan $193 million. The success of the franchise has already spawned 3 sequels, with a slated 5th entry in the series set for this Halloween.
Other notable 2009 hits:
500 Days of Summer Budget: $7,500,000. Worldwide Box Office: $60,722,734 Precious Budget: $10,000,000. Worldwide Box Office: $63,647,833 A Single Man Budget: $7,000,000. Worldwide Box Office: $24,964,890