Boyhood Budget: How Much Did It Cost To Shoot A Movie For 12 Years?

One of my favorite movie of the year is Richard Linklater's Boyhood, which tells the story of a young boy's childhood from age 5 to age 18. You've probably also heard that the movie was  filmed over the course of 12 years using the same actors. Its not a gimmick, but a remarkable cinematic achievement. But one wonders, how was such a film produced and how much did it cost? Learn the Boyhood budget after the jump.

While the film was shot over short periods from 2002 to 2013 (nearly a 12 years span), production also included a year of pre-production and two years of post-production. The film production employed a crew of 400 over that time. Variety reports that IFC gave Boyhood a financial commitment of $200,000 per year — the total Boyhood budget is roughly $2.4 million. According to the trade:

Defying the norms of filmmaking at either the studio or indie level, Linklater and his crew worked for years with no release date in mind, no obligation to show their footage to executives, and certainly no orders to whittle down their two-hour, 42-minute final cut to satisfy a Harvey Weinstein-style overlord.

The completed film ended up running 164 minutes, comprised of a whopping 143 scenes.

At the center of the story is Mason (Ellar Salmon), who with his sister Samantha (Lorelei Linklater), makes the journey from childhood to adulthood. As the film begins, we see that they are living with their single mother (Patricia Arquette) and that their father (Ethan Hawke) has long since left the family. The film takes us through their evolving relationship with their mother and father over many years, moves, and life changes. You can read more about the film in my Sundance reaction/review, along with a video blog.

via: FilmStage