15 Most Profitable Movies Of All Time
3. Star Wars (1977)
Anyone who clicked on this particular article knew it was coming. There's no way Star Wars wouldn't show up on a list of the most profitable movies ever made, and there's a good reason for it. Star Wars' impact on the zeitgeist since its release in 1977 cannot be underscored.
The movie changed the way movies were made and marketed, and it revolutionized the toy industry. Star Wars launched a franchise that stands as one of the most financially successful of all time. In addition to the first film, the franchise expanded to additional movies, television shows, video games, comic books, novels, and other forms of media.
Combined, the Star Wars franchise is estimated to be worth around $70 billion, and it all began with one movie back in '77. Fans know how hard it was for George Lucas to get the movie made, but after budget constraints and various production issues, it stormed the theaters to become the highest-grossing movie ever made.
Lucas made the movie for $11 million in 1976, which amounts to an adjusted budget of $47.1 million. The box office receipts of $775 million adjusts in 2020 to $2.157 billion, leaving 20th Century Fox with an estimated box office take of just over $1.3 billion.