How to Use the Box Office Comeback to Your Advantage as an Indie Filmmaker
People are going back to theaters. That matters for everyone in film, including independent filmmakers.
Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey is closing in on $1 billion globally. No franchise, no sequel, no safety net, just original storytelling at its peak and a top-tier cast that is attracting audiences in droves to show up. Combined with Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s historic $360 million domestic opening, this past weekend became the biggest box office weekend ever recorded. Industry analysts are anticipating a $10 billion year, the highest-grossing year in film since pre-pandemic. Theaters are at their peak and that matters for filmmakers.
Contrary to popular belief, theaters are not dying and streaming is not the dominating channel for consuming film. Audiences are showing up in record numbers for films that get them to leave the house, and as The Odyssey proves, not all of them are franchises. Obsession was made with a $750K budget and crossed $450 million globally and Backrooms came from a 20-year old YouTube filmmaker and led to a historic opening weekend for A24.
Budget isn’t the common theme here, it is audience. Obsession director, Curry Barker had established an audience of 1.2 million YouTube subscribers before the film screened at a festival. Kane Parsons built a series for Backrooms with close to 100 million views before A24 acquired the film. Both filmmakers found a connection with their community and brought that community with them as the core marketing piece for their films.
American Pachuco, Obsession, and Backrooms all had something behind them before they found distribution. The playbook is the same whether you're making a documentary, a horror film, or a genre breakout. Build your audience before the film is done. We break down exactly how to do that in our filmmaker's guide to building an online presence before your film is done.
The festival circuit is still the most reliable path for independent films to find distribution. Your first step to finding distribution starts with The Circuit, where we make it easy for you to target the festivals that are best suitable for your work in just minutes.
