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10 Insanely Profitable Low Budget Films

Putting a very small amount of money into a project and then milking it for far more than you ever dreamed imaginable, if that isn't the American dream, then I don't know what is. For as much as Hollywood executives are bashed for being money grubbing sleazeballs, many of them really want to make quality movies. The problem is, if the movie is quality, but no one goes to see it, you won't be in a position to make movies for too long.

Once

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once

Budget – $150,000

Worldwide Gross – $18,997,174

Return – 6,232%

The Irish musical film Once spent years in development with the Irish film board before it was given a green light, and even then, it was only permitted on the condition that the budget would be kept extremely low.

Once was wildly successful beyond just financial aspects. It won the 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film, the magnificently beautiful Falling Slowly won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the film’s soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy.

The film’s leads, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, come off so believably as musicians due to the fact they actually are musicians. Neither had any real acting experience or training before the film. That translates to cheap actors who are actually able to sing. The movie doesn’t suffer from it, but rather has such a real feel that it’s no wonder it did so well.