Jordan Peele’s racism-horror masterpiece “Get Out” has had the best return on investment of any film of 2017 — a spectacular 630 percent.
Deep into summer, only one other film this year has come close to that kind of return — and it’s from Blumhouse, the same production company that delivered “Get Out.” M. Night Shyamalan‘s “Split” had a 610 percent ROI.
TheWrap calculated an estimate for the combined production budget and marketing costs for the top 25 grossing films this year so far, and Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum’s strategy of taking creative risks within tight budgets is paying off.
Peele was given a $4.5 million budget to work with on “Get Out,” while M. Night Shyamalan had $9 million to make “Split.” Combined with an estimated $30 million marketing budget, that gives “Get Out” an ROI percentage of 630 percent with its worldwide gross of $252 million, and “Split” an ROI of 610 percent on a global haul of $277 million.
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” remake, which remains the highest grossing film of the year so far with $1.26 billion worldwide, had a lower ROI than “Get Out” or “Split” because of its $160 million budget and much more extensive global marketing campaign. Its ROI is well over 400 percent, but doesn’t approach that of the two Blumhouse films.
Overall, summer box office is down from 2016, despite big studio successes including “Despicable Me 3,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and “Wonder Woman.”
Those films, unlike “Get Out” and “Split,” can earn separate revenue from merchandise. Many people want a Minions doll from “Despicable Me,” but few would want a tea with the “Get Out” logo — unless they have a very twisted mind.
Other factors in Blumhouse’s ROI:Blumhouse has a distribution deal with Universal that gets its films on thousands of screens. The films didn’t have Chinese releases, which helped keep overseas distribution costs down. And the films benefitted from strong social media recommendations and word of mouth, a testimony to how much they pleased audiences.
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The next Universal/Blumhouse horror film, a “Groundhog Day”-esque slasher mystery called “Happy Death Day,” will be released on October 13. It imagines a young woman reliving the same finale day, again and again.
Blumhouse probably wouldn’t mind re-living its successful 2017.
Check back for TheWrap’s look at other film’s with strong 2017 ROI.