The story of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie follows a deceptively simple premise: two guys receive a billion dollars to make a movie and promptly squander every penny of it. The film, which marks the feature directorial debut for the comedy duo Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, plays fictionalized versions of themselves as they're forced to confront the consequences of their catastrophic mismanagement. Rather than a traditional narrative arc, what unfolds is a series of increasingly absurd sketches and scenarios that culminate in their desperate attempt to reopen an abandoned shopping mall to repay their investors. It's got shrim—or so the film's tagline promises—but what it actually delivers is something far weirder and more deliberately terrible than anyone could reasonably expect from a movie with such a massive budget.
Behind the making of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Produced by Funny or Die, 2929 Productions, Gary Sanchez Productions, and Abso Lutely Productions, Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie represents a rare moment when a major studio greenlit a feature-length project from the comedy duo known for their anarchic Adult Swim sketch series. The supporting cast reads like a who's who of comedy royalty: Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Ray Wise, Jeff Goldblum, and Bob Odenkirk all signed on for what amounts to glorified cameos in a film that actively resists traditional comedy structure. Released in 2012 with an R rating, the film ran 94 minutes—long enough to wear out its central joke but not long enough to feel like a complete feature. The box office reality was brutal: it earned just $201,436, making it one of the most expensive flops relative to its budget in recent memory. Despite the financial disaster, the project did earn one award nomination, though it never broke through to mainstream recognition. The Metascore of 40/100 and Rotten Tomatoes rating of 38% tell you most of what you need to know about how critics received this particular experiment.
What makes Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie stand out
Here's the thing about this film that nobody really gets until they've sat through it: the failure is intentional. Tim and Eric's entire comedic sensibility—honed over years of sketch comedy—is built on making you uncomfortable, on dragging out jokes past the point of laughter until they become something else entirely. The movie doesn't try to be conventionally funny in the way that most comedies do. Instead, it commits fully to the bit of being a terrible movie made by people who somehow convinced a studio to give them a billion dollars. What's striking is how the ensemble cast seems to understand the assignment, with performers like John C. Reilly leaning into the weirdness rather than trying to salvage it with charm. The wolf subplot, the restaurant scenes, the fake commercials scattered throughout—these aren't meant to land as punchlines so much as they're meant to create a sustained sense of wrongness. I keep coming back to the mall reopening sequence because it's where the film's logic becomes almost crystalline: two guys with no actual resources or plan decide to restore a commercial space, and we watch them fail in real time. It's not sophisticated comedy, but there's something honest about refusing to soften the edges or provide traditional comedic relief.
Where to stream Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie online
If you're curious enough to track down Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie, you'll find it available on major OTT streaming services—check the Where to Watch widget at the top of this page for current availability across platforms in your region. The film's presence on streaming services is somewhat fitting given its deliberately low-fi aesthetic; it doesn't need a theatrical presentation to work (or not work, depending on your tolerance for this particular brand of humor). Movie OTT tracks streaming availability across multiple platforms, so you can find exactly where this film is currently hosted without hunting through five different apps. Given that it bombed at the box office, it's actually easier to find on streaming than it ever was in theaters—which feels like the universe's way of making a joke about the whole enterprise.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Who directed Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie?
Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim directed the film themselves in their feature directorial debuts. The duo, best known for their sketch comedy series on Adult Swim, co-wrote and co-produced the project alongside their production companies.
Q: Is Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie based on a true story?
No, it's a fictional comedy. The premise of the billion-dollar budget is part of the joke—the film itself cost far less to make than the characters are supposed to have wasted in the movie.
Q: What's the rating and runtime of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie?
The film is rated R and runs 94 minutes. It's definitely not family viewing, with the duo's trademark crude humor on full display throughout.
Q: How much money did Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie make at the box office?
The film earned just $201,436 at the box office, making it a significant commercial failure despite (or perhaps because of) its absurdist approach to comedy.
Q: What's the plot of Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie?
Two guys receive a billion dollars to make a movie but waste it all. Forced to repay the loan, they attempt to reopen an abandoned shopping mall. The narrative is deliberately loose and sketch-based rather than following traditional story structure.
Final thoughts on Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie isn't for everyone—honestly, it's not for most people. But if you're the type who appreciates comedy that refuses to compromise or soften its edges, there's something genuinely fascinating about watching two comedians get a massive budget and use it to make something deliberately, almost defiantly uncommercial. The film's failure becomes its own kind of success, a perfect encapsulation of the Tim and Eric brand. Whether you find it hilarious or unwatchable probably says more about your sense of humor than it does about the film itself.
