Funny you should ask (you did ask, right? RIGHT?), as I have the list right here for your reading pleasure:
1. The Passion of the Christ, 2004 (Newmarket) $370,274,604
2. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 2003 (IFC Films) $241,438,208
3. Juno, 2007 (Fox Searchlight) $143,395,265
4. Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 (Fox Searchlight) $141,319,928
5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000 (Sony Pictures Classics) $128,078,872
6. Traffic, 2000 (USA) $124,115,725
7. Fahrenheit 9/11, 2004 (Lionsgate) $119,194,771
8. Paranormal Activity, 2009 (Paramount) $107,753,000
9. Brokeback Mountain, 2005 (Focus Features) $83,043,761
10. March of the Penguins, 2005 (Warner Independent) $77,437,223
11. Coraline, 2009 (Focus Features) $75,286,229
12. Sideways, 2004 (Fox Searchlight) $71,503,593
13. Burn After Reading, 2008 (Focus Features) $60,355,347
14. Little Miss Sunshine, 2006 (Fox Searchlight) $59,891,098
15. Hero, 2004 (Miramax) $53,710,019
16. Atonement, 2007 (Focus Features) $50,927,067
17. 28 Days Later, 2003 (Fox Searchlight) $45,064,915
18. Lost In Translation, 2003 (Focus Features) $44,585,453
19. Napoleon Dynamite, 2004 (Fox Searchlight) $44,540,956
20. Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, 2009 (Lionsgate) $42,004,270
-Thoughts on what made these little flicks so profitable?
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I was surprised some of these were indies...
ReplyDeleteWhat made these films so profitable? In my opinion: HEART. Pure, unadulterated heart.
ReplyDeletegood answer
ReplyDeleteOk, c'mon people! Focus Features, as indie-spirited it may be, HAS to STOP calling itself INDIE!! c'mooon! Atonement? Seriously? Same as Miramax.. just because they're not Paramount or Universal doesn't mean they're "indie".. I get Newmarket, and obviously IFC but, Fox Searchlight?! Sony Pictures Classics?! They produce and distribute some indie flicks but they were born out of the big guys! And Miramax did effin Chicago, for crying out loud! >.<
ReplyDeleteI know must of these are just distributors and not production companies but "Crouching tiger,...", "Coraline", "Hero" and "Atonement" costed SEVERAL millions!! Just because a film is foreign it doesn't mean it's "indie", if some so-called indie distributor picks mexican hit "Arráncame la vida" that doesn't erase the millions they spent in it down here! same millions they spent in "Rudo y Cursi", which shouldn't have made it to Sundance! (some big studio gave Del Toro, Cuaron and Iñarritu 100 million dollars to produce a couple -like 4 or 5- mexican flicks)
Real indies in this list?
>Passion of the Christ
>My big fat greek wedding
>Juno (and it costed a couple of millions)
>Slumdog
>Fahrenheit
>Paranormal (costed like $1 to make)
>March of the penguins
>Sideways
>Little Miss Sunshine (it was PICKED BY some studio but nobody helped them FILMING it)
>28 days later (costed like $1 to make and it looks 100 times better than effin I Am Legend!)
>Lost in translation (just watch the Making Of on the dvd... THAT's indie filmmaking!)
>Napoleon
>Precious
...but, out of these ones above, it's nice to see they did some good ol' bucks :)
......even if they suck like Paranormal Activity XD