Editing Greed (1924 film) (section)

===Box office===
''Greed'' was a financial disappointment.{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=29}} On its initial run, it earned $224,500 in the United States, $3,063 in Canada and $47,264 in other markets. In total it earned $274,827.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=173}} Von Stroheim's biographer Arthur Lennig stated that according to MGM's records the final cost of ''Greed'' was $546,883.{{sfn|Lennig|2000|p=217}} Another biographer, Richard Koszarski, stated that its final cost was $665,603: $585,250 for the production, $30,000 for von Stroheim's personal fee, $54,971 for processing and editing, $53,654 for advertising and $1,726 for Motion Picture dues.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=173}}

Arthur Lennig asserted that MGM's official budget for ''Greed'' was suspiciously high for a film with no stars, no built sets, a small crew and inexpensive film stock. Lennig suspects that MGM averaged the film's cost with the more expensive ''The Merry Widow'' in order to prevent von Stroheim from getting a percentage of the more profitable film.{{sfn|Lennig|2000|p=217}} ''The Merry Widow'' ended up being a hit and earned more profits than ''Greed'' had lost;{{sfn|Finler|1972|p=10}} it cost $614,961 but earned $996,226 on its initial run.{{sfn|Koszarski|1983|p=173}}