Year
Budget
Revenue
ROI
Rating
Director
DATA VISUALIZATION  ·  COM-480  ·  EPFL 2026

What makes a
movie successful?

An interactive exploration of budget, genre, ratings and commercial success across 143 years of cinema. Every dot is a film. Every pattern tells a story.

45,697
FILMS
5,417
WITH FINANCIALS
20
GENRES
143
YEARS
SCROLL
01

The Dossier Board

How strongly does budget predict revenue, and where are the outliers? (DESIGN PREVIEW)
GENRE
Y AXIS
— films
BUDGET → REVENUE · LOG SCALE
02

The Flow

How do budget tiers and genres connect to financial outcomes?
BUDGET TIER → GENRE → OUTCOME (DESIGN PREVIEW — INTERACTIVE VERSION IN DEVELOPMENT)
The Flow — design
03

The Profitability Matrix

Given a genre and budget, what return can you expect?
DECADE
METRIC
GENRE × BUDGET TIER · CELL = MEDIAN ROI
04

Dynasties

Do sequels outperform originals, and under what conditions?
ORIGINAL REVENUE → SEQUEL REVENUE · ABOVE DIAGONAL = IMPROVEMENT (DESIGN PREVIEW)
Dynasties design