Movies / News
Surprising Box Office Hit: How A No-Budget Film Relentlessly Pushed Nolan's 'Tenet' To Second Place
The success of a no-budget film demonstrates how creativity can triumph in the film industry.
Five years ago, the film world was turned upside down when all theaters had to close due to the pandemic. This led to several remarkable situations, such as major studios delaying releases and films disappearing to streaming. Perhaps the most extraordinary story follows.
Christopher Nolan, undoubtedly one of the most beloved directors, wanted to release his Tenet in June. However, studio Warner Bros. thought otherwise: they wanted to wait until enough theaters were open again.
In the meantime, unexpected titles like Unhinged and The New Mutants topped the charts. But even earlier, on June 21, an unknown short film reached number one: Unsubscribe.
This is a 29-minute film that was entirely shot via Zoom and cost zero dollars to make. The creators, former BuzzFeed employee Christian Nilsson, and YouTuber Eric Tabach, met with great success.
They rented a theater and bought all tickets for five screenings. The total cost: $25,488. However, with little to no competition, this catapulted the project to the top of the box office, attracting real audiences to the film.
As Nilsson previously said: "We just moved money from our right pocket to our left pocket. It was absurd. Christopher Nolan was supposed to be the first with a number one film, and then we were it. That was really crazy". Although Unsubscribe is hardly a real film, it now holds a place in history as the first post-lockdown number one.
Christopher Nolan, undoubtedly one of the most beloved directors, wanted to release his Tenet in June. However, studio Warner Bros. thought otherwise: they wanted to wait until enough theaters were open again.
Hits
In the meantime, unexpected titles like Unhinged and The New Mutants topped the charts. But even earlier, on June 21, an unknown short film reached number one: Unsubscribe.
This is a 29-minute film that was entirely shot via Zoom and cost zero dollars to make. The creators, former BuzzFeed employee Christian Nilsson, and YouTuber Eric Tabach, met with great success.
Clever Trick
They rented a theater and bought all tickets for five screenings. The total cost: $25,488. However, with little to no competition, this catapulted the project to the top of the box office, attracting real audiences to the film.
As Nilsson previously said: "We just moved money from our right pocket to our left pocket. It was absurd. Christopher Nolan was supposed to be the first with a number one film, and then we were it. That was really crazy". Although Unsubscribe is hardly a real film, it now holds a place in history as the first post-lockdown number one.
