Hit Movies Made on Shockingly Small Budgets

Hollywood has never been shy about spending money. CGI, enviable A-lister paycheques, marketing campaigns that follow you around the internet for months - it all adds up fast. These days, the average studio production runs somewhere around $100 million. As for those really big blockbusters? You probably don't want to know.

And then there are the filmmakers who ignored all of that. The ones who proved you don't need deep pockets to make a phenomenon. Stay tuned for our favourites...

The Blair Witch Project

Budget ~ $60,000

1999, Writers & Directors: Eduardo Sánchez, Daniel Myrick 1999 was the season of the witch - and the beginning of a new era of horror. The Blair Witch Project didn't just scare people. It messed with them in a way most horror movies can only dream of.

It goes like this: three student filmmakers head into the Maryland woods to document the legend of a local witch… and are never seen, or heard from, again. What the audience gets is their recovered footage - shaky, dark and deeply unsettling in a way that big-budget horror rarely manages. The genius of it was that viewers everywhere were genuinely convinced it was real. It launched found footage as a mainstream genre, and every horror director on the planet wanted a piece of what it had done. Most spent considerably more money trying. None pulled it off quite like this.

Filmed in just 8 days on an original budget of $35,000-$60,000, The Blair Witch Project made $248.6 million at the global box office. One of the most profitable films ever made, and it probably cost less than the catering bill on a Marvel film set.

Paranormal Activity

Budget ~ $15,000

2007, Writer & Director: Oren Peli "After seeing Blair Witch and Open Water, I realised that anyone can buy a video camera and start shooting a movie." - Oren Peli

So that's exactly what he did. Inspired by creepy noises in his own home, Peli wrote a film about a San Diego couple being terrorised by a demonic presence, and Paranormal Activity went on to become one of the most successful horror franchises ever made.

In the movie, Katie tells her boyfriend Micah she's been haunted since she was a kid. Micah's response? Set up cameras all over the house and try to catch it on film. Not call a priest. Not move out. Cameras. You can probably guess how that goes.

Peli wrote, directed, shot and edited it - in his own house, in 10 days. The whole film cost $15,000. Paramount later came on board, put in $200,000 for a new ending, and the film grossed $193.3 million worldwide. Not bad for a bloke with a camera and a spare bedroom.

Napoleon Dynamite

Budget ~ $400,000

2004, Writer & Director: Jared Hess Not every low-budget success story is found footage horror. Napoleon Dynamite proved you could make a hit comedy for next to nothing too.

Set in rural Idaho, nerdy, awkward Napoleon lives with his chat-room-obsessed older brother, his motorcycle-riding grandmother and - most famously - his pet llama, Tina. When new kid Pedro arrives and decides to run for class president, Napoleon becomes his unlikely campaign manager. It’s every bit as wacky and hilarious as it sounds.

Made by a group of recent BYU film school graduates and shot in just three weeks, the production was bare bones. Producer Jeremy Coon borrowed money from his brother to finance it. Director Jared Hess relied on local residents in Preston, Idaho for crew housing and food. Lead actor Jon Heder was paid just $1,000 for the role. But the film was an instant Sundance success, and went on to gross $46 million worldwide.