Film Budgeting - The Budget As An Advertising Tool

The Budget As An Advertising Tool

For blockbuster movies, high budgets are advertised to imply that the film will be worth watching. On the other hand, El Mariachi was advertised as having a shoestring budget of $7,000. El Mariachi's actual budget including the distribution costs far exceeded $7,000. The festival print of El Mariachi was in fact made for $7,000. The additional budget expenditures came when the movie was picked up for distribution by a studio.