The full data setevery figure, with its sourcing
Grosses and theater counts per Box Office Mojo and The Numbers, last checked August 2026. Budgets, acquisition prices and profitability statements per Deadline, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, ScreenDaily and company filings. Each row carries a sourcing flag, because most independent budgets are estimates rather than disclosures. Rental splits, P&A and net figures are models, not reported numbers.
The compiled source data
The polished tables below are slices of a larger research spreadsheet. The raw dataset is here too: 433 US theatrical horror releases from 2000–2026, plus the filtered 58-title $1–5M wide cohort that drives the benchmark table.
- CSVUS theatrical horror releases 2000–2026The compiled source spreadsheet: 433 US theatrical horror releases from 2000 through mid-2026, with reported production budgets, domestic/worldwide grosses, max theaters, production type, and modeled theatrical-only net/ROI. This is the raw data behind the benchmarks, not the curated indie-financed list.433 rows · Compiled July 2026 from Box Office Mojo, The Numbers and trade press. P&A and net/ROI are modeled, not reported. Includes all production types: major studio, studio genre labels, mini-majors, specialty/indie and imports.
- CSVUS theatrical horror $1–5M wide cohortThe filtered investment-thesis cohort: 58 films with reported budgets of $1.0M–$5.0M that played 1,000+ US theaters, with modeled theatrical-only net and ROI.58 rows · Subset of the full dataset. This is the cohort used to argue that the $1–5M wide-horror band has the highest median return of any budget tier.
Indie-financed horror theatrical releases
28 titles, 2021 – mid-2026. 10 carry a published or trade-reported negative cost; the rest are estimates and flagged as such. "Reported outcome" is what the trade press published about the financier side, not what this model computes.
| Film | Year | Distributor | Budget | Budget sourcing | Published MG | Domestic | Worldwide | Theaters | RT | Financing | Reported outcome (financier) | What was published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obsession | 2026 | Focus Features | $750K | trade-reported | $14.0M | $262.8M | $474.8M | 3,400 | 92% | Private equity, 20-day shoot | Profitable, confirmed | Profitable on the acquisition alone, the reported $14M sale was ~19x the negative cost before release. Bought out of a festival for ~19x the negative cost, before a ticket was sold. |
| Together | 2025 | Neon | $12.0M | estimate | $17.0M $17M worldwide-rights deal at Sundance (Variety, ScreenDaily, LA Times) | $21.3M | $34.6M | 2,302 | 90% | Indie equity (Australia), Sundance sale | Reported profitable | Financier side was made whole by the $17M sale. Neon's own position sits close to break-even theatrically ($34.6M worldwide against a $17M MG plus P&A), and no outlet has published a profit statement either way, genre press in Aug 2025 said it still needed to earn to get there. No production budget was ever disclosed; $12M is an estimate. The sale exceeded any plausible negative cost. |
| Bring Her Back | 2025 | A24 | $15.0M | estimate | not disclosed Sony took most international rights; price undisclosed | $19.3M | $39.4M | 2,449 | 90% | Causeway / indie equity + Australian rebate | No published verdict | No published profitability verdict. $39.4M worldwide against an unconfirmed ~$15M cost. |
| The Monkey | 2025 | Neon | $10.0M | trade-reported | not disclosed Neon co-financed and produced; no acquisition price published | $39.7M | $68.9M | 3,200 | 78% | C2 Motion Picture Group equity | Reported profitable | No formal profit statement, but 6.9x the reported cost worldwide and covered throughout as a clear financial success for Neon. |
| Heart Eyes | 2025 | Spyglass / Sony | $18.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $30.4M | $33.1M | 3,102 | 79% | Spyglass equity, Sony distributes | No published verdict | 1.8x cost worldwide, the thinnest margin in this set, and the highest budget of the 2025 group. No published verdict. |
| Presence | 2025 | Neon | $2.0M | trade-reported | not disclosed Neon bought worldwide rights at Sundance; Deadline confirmed no figure was disclosed | $6.9M | $11.1M | 1,750 | 86% | Self-financed, 11-day shoot | Reported profitable | 5.5x the reported $2M cost worldwide. No distributor profit statement published. |
| Clown in a Cornfield | 2025 | RLJE / Shudder | $3.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $7.3M | $13.9M | 2,277 | 83% | Indie equity + Canadian rebate | No published verdict | Neither a budget nor a profitability figure has been published by a trade outlet; $3M is an estimate. |
| The Substance | 2024 | Mubi | $17.5M | estimate | not disclosed Variety: pre-Cannes territory deal at a figure 'rumoured to be in the low double-figure millions', explicitly a rumour, never confirmed | $17.6M | $77.3M | 1,957 | 89% | Working Title / Blacksmith equity | Reported profitable | Variety confirmed it became Mubi's biggest box-office release ever and coverage tracked it clearing its reported cost within weeks. No net-profit figure published. |
| Terrifier 3 | 2024 | Cineverse | $2.0M | published | $3.7M Deadline: Cineverse financed the pickup with a loan of up to $3.666M, plus roughly $500K of marketing | $54.0M | $90.3M | 2,762 | 78% | Fan-funded / Dark Age Cinema, service deal | Profitable, confirmed | The only company-level confirmation in this set: Cineverse's reported earnings swung to profit ($7.2M net income in the quarter, $3.2M for the year) explicitly on the back of this film. ~45x the negative cost. No studio involved at any stage. |
| Longlegs | 2024 | Neon | $10.0M | trade-reported | not disclosed Pre-sale/market deal with Neon; price never disclosed | $74.3M | $125.4M | 2,850 | 86% | C2 / Range equity, Neon P&A | Profitable, confirmed | Neon confirmed the budget as 'under $10M' and that it was recouped on opening day; Neon's highest-grossing release ever, and named among 2024's biggest returns by Deadline. Budget confirmed by Neon only as a range: 'under $10M'. |
| Heretic | 2024 | A24 | $10.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $28.0M | $60.0M | 3,221 | 91% | Beck/Woods + A24 co-finance | Reported profitable | Reported to have passed its ~$10M cost within its opening days; no explicit distributor profit statement. |
| Immaculate | 2024 | Neon | $9.0M | estimate | not disclosed Neon acquired US rights (Deadline/Variety); price undisclosed | $15.7M | $35.3M | 2,354 | 72% | Black Bear / Middle Child equity | No published verdict | No published verdict. 3.9x an unconfirmed $9M cost. |
| The Strangers: Chapter 1 | 2024 | Lionsgate | $8.5M | estimate | not disclosed | $35.2M | $48.2M | 2,856 | 19% | Fifth Season equity, three films shot back-to-back | Reported profitable | Covered as having doubled its cost at the worldwide box office, with sequels proceeding. The budget itself is not trade-confirmed. 19% on Rotten Tomatoes and still ~5.7x the reported negative cost. |
| MaXXXine | 2024 | A24 | $10.0M | disputed | not disclosed | $15.1M | $22.1M | 2,704 | 71% | A24 / Motel Mojave, same indie cycle as X and Pearl | Reported disappointment | The weakest of the trilogy commercially and covered as a disappointment against expectations. No confirmed budget, so no reliable profit read. Budget never confirmed; press placed the trilogy's entries under $10M each. |
| Late Night with the Devil | 2024 | IFC / Shudder | $2.0M | estimate | not disclosed IFC/Shudder pickup; no price published | $12.8M | $15.6M | 1,442 | 96% | Spooky Pictures + Australian equity | Reported profitable | Deadline: IFC's biggest opening weekend ever. Roughly 7.8x an estimated $2M cost, with no profit figure published. |
| Oddity | 2024 | IFC / Shudder | $1.5M | estimate | not disclosed | $1.2M | $1.9M | 790 | 96% | Screen Ireland + indie equity | No published verdict | A small theatrical footprint and a gross close to its estimated cost, the value here sat in the Shudder deal, not the box office. Corrected in Aug 2026: earlier drafts of this table overstated the gross. |
| In a Violent Nature | 2024 | IFC / Shudder | $600K | trade-reported | not disclosed Acquired as a Shudder Original pre-Sundance; no figure disclosed | $4.2M | $4.6M | 1,426 | 74% | Canadian indie equity | Reported profitable | IFC's own published budget-vs-box-office figures show roughly a 7x return on a $600K cost; second-best opening in IFC history at the time. |
| Talk to Me | 2023 | A24 | $4.3M | estimate | not disclosed Deadline, Variety and THR all reported the Sundance acquisition in the 'high seven figures'; no exact number was ever published | $48.3M | $92.2M | 2,379 | 94% | Causeway / Screen Australia | Reported profitable | A24's highest-grossing horror release at the time at roughly 21x its reported cost. Widely reported as highly profitable, though no net figure was published. A high-seven-figure sale on a low-seven-figure budget, then real overages. |
| Thanksgiving | 2023 | Spyglass / Sony | $15.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $31.9M | $46.6M | 3,204 | 79% | Spyglass equity | Reported profitable | No explicit profit statement, but 3.1x cost worldwide and a sequel greenlit. |
| The Blackening | 2023 | Lionsgate | $5.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $17.7M | $18.6M | 1,775 | 62% | MRC / Catchlight equity | No published verdict | 3.7x an unconfirmed $5M cost, almost entirely domestic. No published verdict. |
| Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey | 2023 | Fathom / Altitude | $100K | published | not disclosed | $2.1M | $7.7M | 1,652 | 3% | Sub-$100K indie equity, sales-agent release | Profitable, confirmed | Variety, quoting the producers, reported the film was 'already profitable' after a single opening weekend, on a budget it confirmed as under $100K. 3% on Rotten Tomatoes. Confirmed profitable in week one. |
| Skinamarink | 2023 | IFC / Shudder | $15K | published | not disclosed Acquired by IFC Midnight/Shudder; price undisclosed | $2.1M | $2.1M | 809 | 71% | $15K self-financed micro-budget | Profitable, confirmed | Budget confirmed by Deadline at $15K against a $2M+ theatrical gross and covered as a sleeper hit. Profitable on any reading. |
| Barbarian | 2022 | 20th Century / Regency | $4.5M | trade-reported | not disclosed | $40.8M | $46.2M | 2,890 | 92% | Independently financed via New Regency | Reported profitable | Reported by Vulture and others as a $4.5M independently financed film that grossed $46M, roughly 10x cost. No net figure published. |
| Terrifier 2 | 2022 | Cinedigm | $250K | published | not disclosed | $11.2M | $15.8M | 1,550 | 82% | Fan-funded / self-distributed | Profitable, confirmed | Variety confirmed a budget under $250K and covered the release as an outright box-office success at roughly 60x cost. |
| X | 2022 | A24 | $1.0M | disputed | not disclosed | $11.8M | $14.7M | 2,920 | 94% | A24 / Motel Mojave | Reported profitable | Reported as a strong return, but the $1M budget figure was publicly disputed by the trilogy's own producer, treat the multiple as unreliable. |
| Pearl | 2022 | A24 | $1.0M | disputed | not disclosed | $9.4M | $9.8M | 2,982 | 83% | A24 / Motel Mojave, shot back-to-back with X | No published verdict | Producer Peter Phok publicly rejected the widely repeated $1M budget without giving a replacement figure, so no honest profit read is possible. |
| The Unholy | 2021 | Screen Gems / Sony | $10.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $15.5M | $30.8M | 2,057 | 26% | Ghost House Pictures equity | No published verdict | 3.1x an unconfirmed cost, released mid-pandemic. No published verdict. |
| Spiral: From the Book of Saw | 2021 | Lionsgate | $20.0M | estimate | not disclosed | $23.2M | $40.6M | 2,811 | 37% | Twisted Pictures equity | Reported disappointment | Deadline covered the opening as well below expectations. The highest-cost title here and the weakest return relative to it. |
Badly reviewed, still returned capital
Cheap, wide-released genre films critics buried that still returned a multiple of negative cost. Scores per Rotten Tomatoes; budgets are reported trade figures.
| Film | Year | RT | Budget | Domestic | Worldwide | Theaters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey | 2023 | 3% | $100K | $1.9M | $5.2M | 1,547 | A six-figure negative cost, a 3% score, and a 52x worldwide multiple. |
| Slender Man | 2018 | 8% | $10.0M | $30.6M | $51.7M | 2,358 | — |
| Fantasy Island | 2020 | 8% | $7.0M | $27.3M | $48.0M | 2,784 | — |
| The Forest | 2016 | 10% | $10.0M | $26.6M | $40.3M | 2,451 | — |
| Brahms: The Boy II | 2020 | 11% | $10.0M | $12.6M | $21.1M | 2,151 | The weakest row here, and still roughly 2x its budget. |
| Winchester | 2018 | 12% | $3.5M | $25.1M | $44.2M | 2,480 | — |
| Prey for the Devil | 2022 | 13% | $8.0M | $20.8M | $47.4M | 2,980 | — |
| Truth or Dare | 2018 | 15% | $3.5M | $41.4M | $95.3M | 3,068 | PG-13, one core location, 27x budget. |
| Tarot | 2024 | 18% | $8.0M | $21.6M | $45.1M | 3,005 | — |
| The Bye Bye Man | 2017 | 18% | $6.6M | $22.4M | $30.0M | 2,220 | — |
| The Strangers: Chapter 1 | 2024 | 19% | $8.5M | $35.3M | $47.1M | 2,856 | — |
| Night Swim | 2024 | 20% | $15.0M | $32.4M | $55.2M | 3,351 | — |
| The Grudge | 2020 | 21% | $10.0M | $21.2M | $49.4M | 2,666 | — |
| Imaginary | 2024 | 23% | $13.0M | $27.6M | $44.5M | 3,003 | — |
| The Nun | 2018 | 24% | $22.0M | $117.5M | $366.0M | 3,876 | Worst-reviewed film in its franchise. Highest-grossing film in its franchise. |
| Countdown | 2019 | 26% | $6.5M | $26.0M | $48.0M | 2,675 | — |
| The Boy | 2016 | 30% | $10.0M | $35.8M | $74.1M | 2,671 | — |
| Five Nights at Freddy's | 2023 | 33% | $20.0M | $137.3M | $297.2M | 3,675 | Day-and-date on Peacock, still the clearest proof reviews and returns are unrelated. |
The medium middle (sub-$5M wide releases)
Median outcomes among independently financed sub-$5M features with a 1,000+ theater US release. Screen-only studio net is modeled harshly: 52% domestic / 40% international rentals, minus cost, minus a P&A assumption, counting no streaming, TV or home video.
| Film | Year | Distributor | Budget | Domestic | Worldwide | Theaters | Modeled screen-only studio net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witch | 2016 | A24 | $4.0M | $25.1M | $40.4M | 2,204 | $170K |
| Blair Witch | 2016 | Lionsgate | $5.0M | $20.8M | $45.2M | 3,121 | $580K |
| Truth or Dare | 2018 | Universal | $3.5M | $41.4M | $95.3M | 3,068 | $24.6M |
| Winchester | 2018 | CBS Films | $3.5M | $25.1M | $44.2M | 2,480 | $2.2M |
| Unfriended: Dark Web | 2018 | BH Tilt | $1.0M | $8.9M | $16.4M | 1,546 | ($370K) |
| Ma | 2019 | Universal/Blumhouse | $5.0M | $45.2M | $61.2M | 2,808 | $9.9M |
| Terrifier 2 | 2022 | Cinedigm | $250K | $10.9M | $15.7M | 1,550 | $340K |
| Barbarian | 2022 | 20th Century | $4.5M | $40.9M | $45.5M | 2,340 | $3.6M |
| The Blackening | 2023 | Lionsgate | $5.0M | $17.6M | $17.9M | 1,750 | ($2.7M) |
| Talk to Me | 2023 | A24 | $4.5M | $48.3M | $92.0M | 2,340 | $23.1M |
| Late Night with the Devil | 2024 | IFC / Shudder | $2.0M | $10.2M | $15.6M | 1,034 | ($1.5M) |
| Terrifier 3 | 2024 | Cineverse | $2.0M | $54.3M | $90.0M | 2,514 | $25.5M |
Budget cohort benchmarks
Computed from the 433-title US theatrical horror dataset (2000–mid-2026), 417 of which carry a reported production budget. Studio-wide all-genre figures are trade-reported norms, not dataset figures.
| Cohort | Detail | n | Avg budget | Median budget | Median multiple | Avg multiple | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1–5M wide horror | 1,000+ theaters · 2003–2026 | 58 | $3.4M | $3.8M | 16.4x | 21.8x | The target band. Highest median return and the highest share clearing cost of any tier. |
| All US theatrical horror | 417 titles with reported budgets · 2000–2026 | 417 | $24.1M | $16.0M | 3.6x | 10.8x | The genre average is dragged up in cost and down in multiple by studio-scale pictures. |
| Studio-financed horror | Major studio + studio genre label · 249 titles | 249 | $33.4M | $27.0M | 3.0x | 4.2x | Same genre, same audience, ten times the cost, and roughly a third of the hit rate. |
| Wide horror over $15M | 214 titles · 1,000+ theaters | 214 | $39.0M | $30.0M | 2.7x | 3.5x | Above $15M the multiple collapses toward 2–3x, which is roughly break-even after marketing. |
| Average studio feature (all genres) | Trade-reported norm, not dataset | — | ~$65M | ~$50M | ~2.5x | — | Add $35M+ of marketing on a typical wide studio release. A studio needs roughly 2.5x worldwide to break even theatrically; a $3M film needs a fraction of that. |
Top 20 films by return on negative cost
Ranked by worldwide gross divided by reported negative cost. Horror titles in accent. Budgets exclude marketing; older titles include reissue grosses, as conventionally reported.
| # | Film | Year | Budget | Worldwide | Multiple | Horror |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paranormal Activity | 2007 | $15K | $193.4M | 12,893x | yes |
| 2 | The Blair Witch Project | 1999 | $60K | $248.6M | 4,143x | yes |
| 3 | Deep Throat | 1972 | $25K | $100M | 4,000x | no |
| 4 | Eraserhead | 1977 | $10K | $7.0M | 700x | yes |
| 5 | The Gallows | 2015 | $100K | $43.0M | 430x | yes |
| 6 | Open Water | 2003 | $130K | $54.7M | 421x | yes |
| 7 | Super Size Me | 2004 | $65K | $22.2M | 342x | no |
| 8 | El Mariachi | 1992 | $7K | $2.0M | 286x | no |
| 9 | Mad Max | 1979 | $350K | $100M | 286x | no |
| 10 | Night of the Living Dead | 1968 | $114K | $30.0M | 263x | yes |
| 11 | The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | 1974 | $140K | $30.9M | 221x | yes |
| 12 | Halloween | 1978 | $325K | $70.0M | 215x | yes |
| 13 | Rocky | 1976 | $1.1M | $225M | 205x | no |
| 14 | Once | 2007 | $150K | $23.3M | 155x | no |
| 15 | The Devil Inside | 2012 | $1.0M | $101.8M | 102x | yes |
| 16 | Saw | 2004 | $1.2M | $103.9M | 87x | yes |
| 17 | The Full Monty | 1997 | $3.5M | $257.9M | 74x | no |
| 18 | Insidious | 2010 | $1.5M | $99.9M | 67x | yes |
| 19 | Get Out | 2017 | $4.5M | $255.5M | 57x | yes |
| 20 | Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey | 2023 | $100K | $5.2M | 52x | yes |
Top 20 franchises by return on negative cost
Cumulative worldwide gross against cumulative reported production cost. Horror titles in accent.
| # | Franchise | Films | Budget | Worldwide | Multiple | Horror |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paranormal Activity | — | ~$28M | $890M | 32x | yes |
| 2 | Terrifier | — | ~$3.3M | $100M | 30x | yes |
| 3 | Insidious | — | ~$47M | $730M | 16x | yes |
| 4 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding | — | ~$50M | $770M | 15x | no |
| 5 | The Purge | — | ~$40M | $530M | 13x | yes |
| 6 | The Conjuring Universe | — | ~$185M | $2.3B | 12x | yes |
| 7 | Annabelle | — | ~$65M | $770M | 12x | yes |
| 8 | IT | — | ~$114M | $1.17B | 10x | yes |
| 9 | Saw | — | ~$110M | $1.03B | 9.4x | yes |
| 10 | Home Alone | — | ~$100M | $920M | 9.2x | no |
| 11 | Fifty Shades | — | ~$170M | $1.3B | 7.6x | no |
| 12 | Halloween | — | ~$130M | $880M | 6.8x | yes |
| 13 | The Exorcist | — | ~$120M | $760M | 6.3x | yes |
| 14 | Rocky / Creed | — | ~$300M | $1.7B | 5.7x | no |
| 15 | The Hangover | — | ~$250M | $1.4B | 5.6x | no |
| 16 | Friday the 13th | — | ~$85M | $470M | 5.5x | yes |
| 17 | Despicable Me / Minions | — | ~$1.0B | $5.3B | 5.3x | no |
| 18 | Scream | — | ~$180M | $945M | 5.3x | yes |
| 19 | Final Destination | — | ~$180M | $940M | 5.2x | yes |
| 20 | Star Wars | — | ~$2.1B | $10.3B | 4.9x | no |