15 Most Profitable Movies Of All Time
2. Titanic (1997)
Before Cameron broke box office numbers with Avatar, he put together a little picture about the sinking of the RMS Titanic, and just as the name implies, the movie was massive. He and his crew rebuilt most of the ship, which wasn't cheap by any measure.
He also explored the actual wreck, beginning in 1995, which also cost an arm and a leg. There was a lot of money riding on the film, but as Cameron often proves, his movies are critical and financial successes. Titanic became the first movie to break the one billion dollar mark, and it won a ton of awards.
The movie was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, and it went on to win 11, including Best Picture and Best Director. Titanic became the highest-grossing film of all time when it was released in 1997. It held that distinction until it was unseated by Avatar, 13 years later.
The budget for Titanic came in at around $200 million, which puts its 2020 adjusted cost at $323 million. In 1997, it made $1.84 billion, which comes to around $2.979 billion in 2020. The estimated adjusted profit for Paramount & Fox after all costs are considered left the studios with a hefty profit of $1.4 billion.