Does money determine success? Or is it only a number? These are questions that can make someone think about how much money goes into a movie, and in some cases, if it’s even needed. In the recent years, movie budgets have grown higher and higher. This could be due to consistent famous actors or new and improved special effects that were non existent in past years. But the main question is, does the budget of a movie help determine the success of a movie.

Now, obviously a lot of factors besides the budget can affect a movie’s appeal. The directing, the acting, the writing, the list goes on and on. But that’s not to say that it doesn’t have any affect on it especially in certain genres. For example, the genre of superhero movies. It is almost vital to have a large budget for making a current and successful superhero flick. The average budget for a superhero movie ranges from 150-250 million dollars. This may seem like lot, but everything does add up. A superhero movie need sets, the locations, the costumes, the crew, and especially the special effects that have to make the magic of a superhero world come to life in a realistic and believable way to make a large profit in the box office. However, other types of movies don’t need nearly as much to become a success. One of the best examples is “The Blair Witch Project” which only used a grand total of 60,000 dollars to make the movie. Being one of the first found footage movies, they could use handheld cameras and practical effects to be realistic in a different way than other movies. When looking at the budgets for movies, there is a happy medium between superhero and found footage. This can fall into categories including horror, romance, and comedy.

Movie budgets can or cannot help the success of a movie. It really all depends on what type of movie is being made. But, in the end, it never hurts the have a little extra money to make a movie as great as it can be.