Sling Blade backdrop
Sling Blade poster
#4,261 All-time worldwide
#65 1996 releases

Movie profile

Sling Blade

1996 · 135 min · Miramax

Drama
IMDb FilmDB Where to watch

Box office snapshot

Financial performance

Reference figures based on available reported data.
Worldwide gross $34.1M
Budget $1.2M
Gross minus budget $32.9M
ROI 28.42x

Domestic gross

$17.1M

Estimated from worldwide gross

International gross

$17.1M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Opening weekend

$3.1M

Estimated from worldwide gross

Ranking context

Where Sling Blade ranks

Positioned across the all-time chart, release year, studio, franchise and genre indexes where enough mapped data exists.
Open rankings
All-time worldwide #4,261 All-time chart position of 12,922 titles Compared with every rankable movie in the current worldwide dataset. 1996 releases #65 Release-year chart position of 248 titles Ranked against movies released in 1996. Studio / company #28 Miramax of 77 titles Position inside the mapped Miramax movie set. Primary genre #1,602 Drama of 5,859 titles Genre context based on the first mapped genre on this profile.

Nearby worldwide ranks

Comparable titles immediately around this movie by reported worldwide gross.

#4,258 Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam 2017 · $34.1M #4,259 Alibi.com 2 2023 · $34.1M #4,260 Instinct 1999 · $34.1M #4,263 Miracles: The Canton Godfather 1989 · $34.0M #4,264 Death Wish 2018 · $34.0M #4,265 Day of the Dead 1985 · $34.0M

Quick answer

How did Sling Blade (1996) perform at the box office?

High confidence

Sling Blade (1996) earned a reported $34.1M worldwide against a reported $1.2M production budget. Its gross-minus-budget figure is about $32.9M. The current gross-to-budget multiple is 28.42x. In this database it currently ranks #4,261 in the current all-time worldwide chart set and #65 among 1996 releases.

Worldwide gross
$34,100,000
Budget
$1,200,000
Gross minus budget
$32,900,000
ROI
28.42x
Source: TMDb. Last updated: Jul 13, 2026. View source Gross-minus-budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and later home/streaming revenue.

Synopsis

Story

Karl Childers, a mentally disabled man, has been in the custody of the state mental hospital since the age of 12 for killing his mother and her lover. Although thoroughly institutionalized, he is deemed fit to be released into the outside world.

Movie facts

Production details

Release date
Aug 30, 1996
Production
Miramax, The Shooting Gallery
Countries
US

Related indexes

Browse related box office pages

Studio / production companyMiramax Release year chart1996 box office Genre chartDrama

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Where to watch

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AI summary

Why this movie matters

Released in 1996, Sling Blade is positioned in this dataset as a Drama title from Miramax. Its box office profile shows that available worldwide gross is $34.1M, reported production budget is $1.2M, gross-minus-budget is $32.9M, ROI is 28.42x. For comparison, it currently sits #4,261 all-time in the current chart set and #65 among 1996 releases. Streaming availability should be checked against the selected United States region because provider rights can change.

AI-generated contextual summary based on available movie, genre, ranking and box office data. It does not replace official distributor notes or financial reporting.
Data noteGross minus budget is not studio net profit. It excludes marketing, distribution fees, revenue splits, tax incentives and downstream revenue. Domestic, international and opening weekend figures marked as estimated are modelled estimates.