Avatar Budget: $230 Million

Avatar Worldwide Gross: $2 Billion

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.