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Get Out Is The Most Profitable Film Of 2017 So Far

Get Out Is The Most Profitable Film Of 2017 So Far

The movie was made on a budget of just $4.5 million.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

According to figures from The Wrap, Jordan Peele's directorial debut, Get Out, has been the most profitable movie of 2017.

The racism-horror masterpiece was praised universally by critics, holds a rating of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, was made on a budget of just $4.5 million (£3.4m) and grossed an incredible $252 million (£193m) worldwide. That's a 630% return on investment for production company Blumhouse Productions.

Blumhouse Productions is also responsible for the second most profitable movie of the year, M. Night Shyamalan's Split, which cost $9 million (£7m) to make and made $277 million (£212m) worldwide at the box office, meaning its ROI is an impressive 610%.

Credit: Blumhouse Productions/Universal Pictures

The fact that both of these movies come from the same production company means that Blumhouse CEO and founder Jason Blum's formula of combining risky scripts and low budgets is definitely paying off.

Blum has been behind some of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed horror movies in recent years, but he revealed in an interview back in 2014 that in the beginning, Hollywood didn't quite get it.

"Everyone thought I was nuts because everyone thought Paranormal Activity was a magic trick," he explained to IndieWire. "Then we had the sequel to Paranormal and Insidious and Sinister. Recently, we had The Purge which was the moment when the establishment finally was like 'this guy is on to something'."

Credit: Blumhouse Productions/Universal Pictures

Blum's formula involves getting experienced directors on board, paying them less, but in return giving them complete creative freedom.

"We work with experienced directors. We make a deal - we're not going to pay you a lot, but you get to do what you want to do. Most directors get final cut. It's 'auteur' filmmaking, but for commercial movies... I tell directors: 'I can't promise you a hit, but I can promise you the movies is going to be yours'. When you work for a studio, they pay you a lot of money, but in exchange for that, they tell you what to do."

He's also a big believer in the importance of solid characters and a good plot, even in horror movies.

"The scares don't work if the story and characters work... if you take away the toys, the director has nothing to focus on but those things. I think it makes the movie stronger."

Blumhouse Productions' next film, Happy Death Day, is out on October the 13.

Featured Image Credit: Blumhouse Productions