3. The Kings Speech (2010)
Budget: $15,000,000. Worldwide Box Office: $414,211,549
Tom Hooper, director of feature films such as The Damned United and Les Miserables, took his hand at recreating the trials and tribulations that King George VI suffered with public speaking, with Colin Firth playing King George and Geoffery Rush playing his therapist Lionel Logue. Before the films release, due to the repeated use of foul language in one scene, the film was harshly given a classification of 15 in the UK, later moved down to a more audience friendly 12A. This controversy would certainly have helped the publicity of the film, gaining intrigue into what was so contentious about this seemingly innocuous film. Any publicity is good publicity it seems. Its 12 nominations at the Academy Awards allowed a further push for box office takings, as is natural with such a global TV audience. From an initial production budget of $15 million, the film finally ended up on a mammoth total of $414 million.
Other Notable 2010 Hits:
Black Swan Budget: $13,000,000. Worldwide Box Office: $329,398,046 Easy A Budget: $7,000,000. Worldwide Box Office: $74,952,305