What were the factors affecting production of Slumdog Millionaire?

Slumdog Millionaire is the 2008 movie adaptation of the best selling novel Q and A by Indian Diplomat Vikas Swarup. The book was then adapted for the movie by British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, but changes some of the main features such as some of the story elements and characters names. The love story which is a large feature of the movie was written by Simon Beaufoy and could be an aspect to the films success, as it went on to win the 2009 Academy Award for best motion picture. 

The film was originally being produced by Warner Independent Pictures but was shut down in 2008 due to Warner Brothers wanting to invest all their money into the Dark Knight, which nearly meant Slumdog Millionaire would be a straight to DVD release, which could of affected the success of the film dramatically. Fortunately Fox Searchlight, another independent production company which is a strand from 20th Century Fox invested in the film. 

It is surprising for a film produced by independent companies such as Fox Searchlight and Film 4 to be so successful, as even the budget was lower than most conventional blockbusters or films that contend in the Oscars, the budget being $15,000,000 whereas The Dark Knight's budget was $185,000,000. 

Director Danny Boyle known for directing films such as Trainspotting and 28 days later originally wanted to cast someone for the main character who was born and raised in India but could not find the right person to play the older Jamal. This is due to there being a tendency among boys to get very muscular, which didn't fit the underdog type character that Danny Boyle was looking for. Danny Boyle then discovered Dev Patel through his daughter as she was a fan of the British television series Skins.

Slumdog Millionaire was originally intended to receive a PG-13 rating, which in the UK would most likely be a 12 A, but ultimately received an R rating, which is why it is a 15 rating in the UK. With no time or money for appeals the film was released with its given rating, which could of affected it at the box-office, but ultimately didn't. 

Despite all the films awards it sadly couldn't win the best foreign language film award due to the film being a UK production and primarily being spoken mostly in the English language, even though 20% of the film is in Hindi.