On paper, a $2 million movie grossing $11.1 million looks like a solid return. For Presence, Steven Soderbergh’s latest, that math tells only part of the story. The film, a supernatural thriller about a family moving into a haunted house, premiered at Sundance on January 19, 2024, and hit U.S. theaters nearly a year later, on January 24, 2025.
Neon distributed it. The budget was lean.
The box office, by contrast, was not. What makes that number worth a second look is the gap between production cost and earnings — a ratio of roughly five and a half to one. That kind of multiple is rare outside franchise horror or micro-budget indies. Presence sits somewhere in between.
It had a name director, a recognizable cast, and a genre hook. But it also had a $2 million ceiling.
Soderbergh has worked with tight budgets before, but $2 million for a feature with theatrical release, festival pedigree, and visual effects — even modest ones — is tight. The cast includes Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland, and Julia Fox. That is not a group of unknowns.
Liu is a known box-office draw from the Charlie’s Angels and Kill Bill films. Sullivan is a regular on This Is Us. Fox came off a high-profile turn in Uncut Gems.
Getting that level of talent for a $2 million movie suggests either deferred pay, profit participation, or a director whose reputation carries weight. Soderbergh’s credits — Erin Brockovich, Traffic, the Ocean’s series — give him that pull.
David Koepp wrote the script. Koepp has penned blockbusters (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible) and smaller thrillers (Secret Window). His track record probably helped the project attract financing and talent.
The story follows a family that moves into a house and discovers a supernatural presence. That premise is familiar.
What Soderbergh and Koepp did with it, according to critics, was build atmospheric tension and let the cast carry the emotional weight. Critics praised the film. That matters for a movie that spent a year between festival premiere and wide release.
Sundance buzz gave Presence early momentum. Neon’s distribution strategy — a January release, often a dumping ground for weaker titles — turned out to be a smart play. January 2025 had little direct competition in the supernatural thriller space.
The film capitalized. The $11.1 million gross is not a blockbuster.
But for a $2 million movie, it is a clear win. It means the film likely turned a profit in its theatrical run alone, before streaming, foreign sales, and home video. That is not guaranteed for most indie releases.
Many never recoup their budget. Soderbergh has a history of making profitable films on controlled budgets. Presence fits that pattern.
It also fits a broader trend in the industry: mid-budget thrillers moving toward leaner production models, with name actors willing to work for less in exchange for quality material and a director’s vision. The numbers here suggest that model can still work. The film’s success is not just about the money.
It’s about what the money says. A $2 million movie with a Sundance premiere, a Neon release, and an $11.1 million gross is a data point. It tells studios that audiences will show up for a well-made genre film with a strong cast, even without a $100 million marketing campaign.
It tells actors that Soderbergh’s projects are worth the reduced paycheck. And it tells other filmmakers that the gap between cost and earnings can still be wide — if you get the details right.
