James Cameron’s Avatar – $500 million
James Cameron, the director who brought us “Titanic and the Terminator franchise, may have outdone himself with his latest endeavor. He’s certainly outbudgeted himself—and everyone else in Hollywood—with Avatar.
Not to be confused with The Last Airbender, the movie follows humanity’s attempts to exploit the resources of an alien planet through hybrid human-alien “avatars.” It features a far less celebrated cast than its budget might suggest—aside from Cameron himself, the biggest names attached to it are Giovanni Ribisi and Sigourney Weaver.
Cameron first wrote the script for Avatar in 1994, but delayed production until the technology caught up with his vision. Avatar uses an innovative new motion capture camera that allows the director to watch the actor’s interaction with the computer generated world as they’re filmed, an enormous performance-capture stage called The Volume and a special skullcap for recording facial expressions. Additionally, the entire movie is being filmed in 3D.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – $300 million
The final installment in Disney’s Pirates trilogy, At World’s End resolved the stories of Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley). The most expensive movie ever made received mixed reviews, but won “Best Movie” at the People’s Choice Awards. It earned slightly less than its predecessor with a gross revenue of just under $1 billion.
Spider-Man 3 – $258 million
Director Sam Raimi’s third Spider-Man movie, featuring Tobey Macguire in the titular role and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, boasted not one but three major villains—Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace) and the New Goblin (James Franco). The film grossed nearly $900 million.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – $225 million
The sequel to Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl introduced the trilogy’s betentacled villain, Captain Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) of the Flying Dutchman. Actors Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom returned, of course, to reprise the roles that made the first movie such a hit. Dead Man’s Chest was a hit at the box office and earned over $1 billion.
X-Men: The Last Stand – $210 million
The third installment of the X-Men series saw Brett Ratner stepping into the directorial shoes to replace Bryan Singer as the mutant misfits’ world is turned upside down by forces both internal and external. The film received mixed reviews, but earned higher than either of its predecessors with $459,359,555 gross revenue. It was followed in 2009 by X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
King Kong – $207 million
The iconic ape returned to the silver screen for the first time in nearly 30 years in this 2005 remake of the original 1933 film. The film featured Naomi Watts as Kong’s number one lady and Jack Black as the inscrupulous film director looking to bank on the prodigious primate. Universal Studios certainly turned a profit with over $500 million in gross revenue.