4. Inception (2010) - $825.5 million
Following the record-breaking opening weekend and billion dollar box office of
The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan decided to play it safe with his next movie by directing an original script centered around a team of thieves who commit corporate espionage by infiltrating their victims minds by creating induced dreams spanning several levels of their subconscious in order to steal ideas. Wait, did I say safe? Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy and Ellen Page (as the human exposition machine) join Nolan alumni Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine to complete a sprawling ensemble cast that each have their own part to play in the story. The layered dream levels allow the director to stage multiple action set-pieces simultaneously; a rain-soaked city chase, the famous 360 degree fight scene and a 007-esque assault on a mountain base are all happening at the same time, but Lee Smith's tight editing makes sure the audience doesn't lose track of just what the hell is going on. Nolan first pitched
Inception in 2001 when it was an 80-page treatment more akin to a horror movie, before spending almost a decade working on the script before it was finally given the green light in early 2009. Warner Bros must have been pretty confident in the director's vision, as the movie was given a $160 million budget before embarking on a five-month shoot spanning six countries and four continents. The end result was a thrilling summer blockbuster that
actually required the audience to think, which marked a refreshing change of pace after the usual genre fare of paper-thin plots and mindless set-pieces.