The most profitable film of all time was the Blair witch project (I think). I wonder why it's not mentioned - I guess it's just total gross taken in...
Depends on what you mean by "most profitable" If it's percentage return, Blair Witch probably fits the bill since it cost $60,000 and grossed $140 million at the box office. If it's total dollars in profits, it's probably My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which cost $5 million to produce and grossed $241 million at the box office.
all of these are no doubt classics, I just havent seen em surprising that Thunderball is the highest grossing of all the Bond movies though I guess it rode on the coattails of Goldfinger's success as it was the next Bond release after Goldfinger
The Rope was the first release in "CinemaScope" (1953) http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/cscope-ac.htm
The problem with determining profitability is determining cost. Blair Witch cost $60K to produce originally, but that's not the total cost to Artisan, who released the movie. It's like the deal with El Mariachi. It cost $7K to make it to the point that got Rodriguez distribution for the flick, but then a bunch of money was spent re-editing it, sprucing up the soundtrack, blowing it up to 35mm and making prints, etc. to send to the theaters. All in, that $7K movie probably cost Columbia a couple of million dollars. And, not to mention that the grosses don't go directly to the studio in total. The theater gets a cut (how big of one depending on the picture). But, either way, the most profitable on a percentage basis is probably still Blair Witch, though it sure wasn't a career-maker since the makers have yet to be able to get a follow-up picture made (they didn't have anything to do with Blair Witch 2). One of the Blair Witch people is moving furniture for a living now.
48 of 50 (the Robe and Spiderman not seen yet). Only 29 on the previous list. Guess I'm showing my age. Not so much time for movies anymore -- and not really into all the sci-fi flicks.
were movies really cheap in the 50's? 5 The Ten Commandments $789,930,000 $65,500,000 1956 1 Gone With the Wind $1,218,328,752 $198,655,278 1939
Let's say your parents told you that in 1950 a movie cost 25 cents. How could you tell if movies have increased in price faster or slower than most goods and services? To convert that price into today's dollars, use the CPI. The CPI for 1950 = 24.1 The CPI for 2003 = 183.8 A movie in 1950 = $0.25 Use the following formula to compute the calculation: 2003 Price = 1950 Price x (2003 CPI / 1950 CPI) $1.91 = $0.25 x (183.8 / 24.1) A full-price movie at a Minneapolis theater costs between $5.00 and $7.50. Looks like movies have increased in price faster than most other goods and services. http://minneapolisfed.org/Research/data/us/calc/index.cfm
