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Shoestring Budget, Giant Box Office

''Rocky,'' ''Mad Max,'' and other films that made a lot with a little

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Estimated budget: $140,000
Domestic gross: $31 million

Rocky (1976)
Estimated budget: $1 million
Domestic gross: $117 million

Mad Max (1980)
Estimated budget: $500,000
Domestic gross: $9 million

The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Estimated budget: $100,000
Domestic gross: $141 million

Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Estimated budget: $400,000
Domestic gross: $45 million

Originally posted Sep 28, 2009 Published in issue #1068 Oct 02, 2009 Order article reprints

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