Lazy Man and Money

The 15 Most Profitable Movies of All-Time

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I was listening to the radio in the car yesterday where I heard a local talk show discussing the most profitable movies of all-time. I made a mental note that I should write about it, when I got back home. Unfortunately for readers, just as I walked in the door I noticed a ball of yarn on the floor. After some play, which lead to some cat nip, I curled up in a ball for a nap. Waking up from the nap, the idea was gone.

Well the news of Elizabeth Taylor’s death last has brought the idea back to the forefront of my mind. I went through Elizabeth’s Taylor’s movies and I sadly have to say that the only memorable experience that I had of her acting is as the voice for Maggie Simpson in one episode of The Simpson’s. This is a time to remember the valuable entertainment that actors and movies bring to us. With that in mind, it is even more appropriate to look at the financial perspective of movies than it was 24 hours ago.

CNBC brings us the research of the 15 Most Profitable Movies of All-Time. There are a couple of different ways you could define that. I would define it as the one that netted the most money. CNBC chooses to define it as movies that percentage of gain for each dollar invested. Thus, in this list, it is better if you can turn a $100,000 movie into a million dollar movie than a million dollar movie to a 5 million dollar movie. Again, I’d rather have the $4M of profit than the $900K, but this analysis tends to make for a more interesting list in my opinion. All CNBC’s money data is adjusted for inflation.

One big thing to note here is that DVD sales aren’t included. Thus some of my favorites low budget movies like Clerks and Office Space get the short-end of the stick.

    15. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

    Return of the King made a 1008% return on the investment. The key to this seems to be that all the movies were shot at the same time, and most of the major actors were unknown. Orlando Bloom couldn’t cash on his popularity (other than being swarmed by hordes of women). There are few other big actors or actresses. It’s not like Liv Tyler’s bit part was going to break the bank (though she’ll still be one of my top actress crushes of all time).

    What they saved on actors, I imagine went to sets and special effects. After all it still cost over $100 million to make.

    14. Mrs. Doubtfire

    This was a movie that starred one major actor, Robin Williams and no complex sets or special effects. It’s just great humor, suitable for the widest audience – the whole family.

    13. Something About Mary

    Cameron Diaz wasn’t a leading actress until this role. Ben Stiller was mostly a TV actor. The budget was kept low and word of mouth pushed this into being a box office smash.

    12. The Hangover

    Following the Something About Mary plan, this movie was built around a bunch of no-name actors. It also was big on word of mouth. I heard about it because my wife heard about from a friend. I went with a friend who hadn’t heard about it. Quite honestly, I went to a lot of movies that summer, and it didn’t have ANY competition. It was worth seeing the movie twice before seeing almost any other movie once. I have bought one DVD of a movie that was in the theaters over the last five years. This was it.

    11. Jaws

    Jaws is one of the classic movies of all-time of course. The mechanical shark wasn’t expensive and the actors were cheap. I think of it as the blockbuster movie that wasn’t a blockbuster. If it were made today, I can imagine a ton of special effects making it expensive. Another thing to note was that with there being no PG-13 rating at the time, it slipped in a PG rating that made it suitable for families. Of course suitable is relative. The same movie rating system decided that Gremlins was suitable for a 8-year old Lazy Man – a mistake.

    10. Ghost

    The movie’s budget came in at an inflation-adjusted $35 million. One might ask how it was possible to get established actors like Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze, and Whoopi Goldberg for this price. Demi Moore wasn’t the leading lady that she would be become. Patrick Swayze had Road House tarnishing his Dirty Dancing success and Whoopi Goldberg was 5 years removed the Color Purple. I was shocked to hear that it made an adjusted $506 million at the box office. It was a very good movie, but I think I need a recount.

    9. Home Alone

    This was another budget movie. Joe Pesci was just starting to get popular with Goodfellas being released in the same year and My Cousin Vinny coming later. Macaulay Culkin was well, a kid actor who hadn’t tone much. The set of a house wasn’t expensive. Much of the humor was slapstick, so you didn’t even have to hire witty writers. However, the concept was fairly original and suitable for the whole family – a lot like Mrs. Doubtfire.

    8. The Passion of the Christ

    I can’t say much about this movie as I haven’t seen it. However, I know quite a few people who went to see it, multiple times.

    7. American Beauty

    This is one of those cases where you have an established actors Kevin Spacey (Se7en, Usual Suspects, The Negotiator) and Annette Bening signing on because of the script. The characters were unique and noteworthy enough to garner many awards. It was one of those movies that as an actor you take as a B-level actor in hopes of becoming A-level. The Beauty (pun intended) is that it only cost an adjusted $20 million to make. Mena Suvari’s bit part in the movie probably would have been worth that alone.

    6. Star Wars Episode IV

    I never realized that Star Wars’ budget was so low. It was just an inflation adjusted $40M. That played a key role in profitability. The box office total was $775 Million. I’m not sure if that includes re-releases of movie though. If so that would also play a key role.

    5. Grease

    The original article mentions, both John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John “were major stars.” I’m going to have to take CNBC’s word for it, because at the age of 2, I wasn’t into movies. I didn’t see Olivia Newton-John in anything else big before it. It seems she was more famous for her music. John Travolta with his role in Welcome Back Kotter, but also Saturday Night Fever, would have been like signing Ashton Kutcher early in his career – you could probably get him for a good price.

    Of course the movie became extremely popular with kids with people seeing it multiple times. However, the key to making it this high on the list was keeping the budget at 20M.

    4. Pretty Woman (15th Anniversary Special Edition)

    Richard Gere had been pretty far removed from his big role in An Officer and a Gentleman. It was Julia Roberts first leading role. The lack of special effects and expensive scenes kept the costs to down to an adjusted $23 million. So when in became the hit of the year, it earned this high ranking.

    3. Slumdog Millionaire

    With no big stars or sets, the film cost an adjusted 15M to make. The movie had wide appeal. Not only was a good family movie, but it was a good ethnic movie. When you have a story good enough to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and spend so little making it, you are going be quite successful.

    2. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

    The article makes a great point that at this time Spielberg could sell just about anything he made due to his prior success. He had a great story that didn’t require expensive actors. The article makes particular mention that it ran in theaters for months. I remember it running for years near me. It was the only movie that I remember not being able to get into for months and months.

    The only surprise here is that it isn’t #1.

    1. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

    Huh, that’s a surprise, isn’t it? Maybe it isn’t. The small indie movie only cost an adjusted $6 million to make. So at 1/3rd the cost of Slumdog Millionaire it benefited from having similar success. The key to this success was keeping the denominator low with no-name actors and sets. It was an entertaining movie suitable for the whole family that resonated with people who weren’t Greek.

Final Analysis

There are a few things all these movies have in common. They don’t have a ton of A-list actors and actresses. You don’t see an Ocean’s Eleven in there. In addition you’ll see that costs were kept low. Of course the methodology of looking at percent gain versus dollar gain gives benefit to those movies with more room to grow.

It is a little bit like investing in small cap. stocks. You may get profits from the big companies, but you aren’t likely to hit the home run with outstanding growth that this analysis measures.

Article Hat Tips: CNBC’s 15 Most Profitable Movies (via: Sarah and Vinnie and MovieFone)

Ten Ways Save Money with your Movie Budget

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[The following post comes from Keira who hails from LoveRomancePassion… a site known for it’s Romance Novel Reviews. As you might imagine she’s a longtime romance reader, a fairly new Kindle owner, and a junkie for USA TV shows. She loves marriage of convenience plots and angst ridden breakups that ultimately end up in gooey happily ever afters. You can find her on Twitter]

As someone with a very small entertainment budget, I’m a big promoter of cheap or free forms of entertainment. It’s a must for me because I don’t have a lot of extra money to spare right now and frankly, who does in this economy? The following examples are of things I’ve done to keep within my entertainment budget and as you will see it’s not at all about deprivation. It’s about playing it smart and making your wallet happy.

  1. Morning Movies – It’s not about staying away from the theater; it’s about when you go to the theater. Movies can be budget friendly. Morning movies at most movie theaters are more than half as cheap as going at night. A child ticket and an adult ticket usually cost the same in the mornings too. Why spend $20 on a pair of tickets when you can get into the show for only $8? You might live in an area though, where the difference between normal times and matinee times is only a dollar or two, still savings is savings. And as an added bonus, there’s usually more available seating at early showings compared to other times.
  2. Loyalty Programs – You should belong to the loyalty program at every theater in town and carry the cards in your wallet at all times. There was a Regal Cinemas in my college town but not one in my hometown and stupidly, I took it out of my wallet where I promptly forgot all about it. Recently, I took a trip and brought all of my movie theater loyalty cards but the Regal Cinemas and guess what was there? Regal Cinemas. It was also the day for free popcorn if you present your loyalty card. So not only did I miss out on gaining points toward concession discounts and free tickets, but I also missed out on free popcorn. I could have kicked myself.
  3. Sneak Concessions into the Theater – Yeah, it’s a little ridiculous, but have you seen the prices at the concession stand? Date night could easily cost you $40 alone when it comes to popcorn, candy and drinks. Girls have it easier when it comes to sneaking in concessions because we carry purses, but guys if your pants have big pockets you can still bring in a soda can or bag of candy. Use your concession discounts from the loyalty program to buy the popcorn. I know of people who have brought pre-popped microwaved popcorn with them to the theaters, but this is not something I have done or plan to do ever. I’m a purist. I like my theater popcorn to be hot, buttery, and extra salty.
  4. Summer Kid Films – During the summer there are free or $1 showings of previously released kid films. Not all titles will be for you, and you will have to weigh the pleasure of getting into the movie for so cheap versus the amount of kids at the theater, which could drive you nuts. Of course, if you’re bringing your own kids you won’t care. Be on the lookout also for themed movie showing programs on much older films. Some theaters host these during the summer too and offer seating for them for much less too.
  5. Listen to the Radio – You can win free movie tickets by listening to local radio stations. I’ve yet to win any myself, but plenty of other people are scoring gift cards. Why not you? You won’t win if you don’t call the station. [Editor’s Note: I’ve called a radio once to win tickets (though concert tickets) and won. I’ve since retired happy to see Pearl Jam in their heyday.]
  6. Library – Why belong to Netflix or Blockbuster when you can check out movies for free at the library? Sure they have fewer copies and your time on the wait list is longer and you can’t keep the movie out indefinitely before remembering to send it back in, but you get what you pay for and it’s a damn good deal since it’s a free service. It also helps your library out by showing good circulation. It’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned.
  7. Go to a Friend’s House – Want to watch movies on the cheap? Go to your friend’s house and watch some of their movies. Your collections might have a lot of overlap but I bet you can find something you both want to watch.
  8. Host Movie Night at Your House – On the reverse, you can host movie night yourself and invite your friends over to watch. Tell them you’ll supply the popcorn and drinks if they get the candy. You can do a marathon of Harry Potter or Twilight or Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or your favorite TV show. You’re only limited by what you have and what you can get from the library.
  9. Watch Your Premium Channels – If you’re already paying for HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, Starz, or any other movie channel network, you should be watching them. If you can’t find anything to watch on currently check their On Demand version of their channels. Select and start your movie on your own time and watch as your own pace. Is a phone call coming in? Hit pause. Have to run to the bathroom, but don’t want to miss the good part? Pause again.
  10. Go to the Drive In – As Lazy Man has pointed out previously you can save money at drive-in movies

These 10 tips only scratch the surface of saving money, but combine them and you’ll find that your pockets instead of feeling lighter are actually a little fuller. Well… at least until you hit another budget buster, but it won’t be for movies!

Can I Pay Less for Something of Similar Value?

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Pay less and win the game of personal finances.

pay-less.jpgTodd at Harvesting Dollars contacted me today to tell me about a new meme he’s starting. With the upcoming summer Olympics, what financial games or tricks do you use to keep your finances in order? He saves his raises and doesn’t buy into lifestyle inflation. If you are good at that game, you are going to do pretty well. It’s a tough game to play and requires a lot of self-discipline.

My game: Can I Pay Less for That?

I don’t know too many who subscribe to the philosophy of “I like to pay full price whenever I can.” I honestly know a few, but they are pretty rare people in my circle. I’m very firmly looking to maximize my dollar in every area of my life that I can. Here are just some ways that I play the “Can I Pay Less for That” game:

  • Books – Library or Paperback Swap have the same books.
  • Movies – Netflix, RedBox, DVD Play, your cable’s On Demand (if you already have it) are fantastic alternatives to movie theaters if you realize that you are simply time-shifting the viewing of the movie. Plus I’d rather introduce my wife to The Godfather than run out to see Mamma Mia.
  • Transportation – I’ve already written about how I save money on cars. Now you can add save on gas to the list.
  • Clothing, Homes, and even Alcohol? – Want to pay less on other things? I covered a lot of my major savings in my save money round-up.

Despite the picture I chose to include, the key to almost all these tips to pay less is that I give up very little quality (at least in my mind, do what’s right for your mind). The books and movies tell the same stories. The cars get to me the same location. I have decent clothes for when I need them. I can trick my friends into thinking that my wine is expensive, since it’s actually good quality. It really adds up over time.

Photo Credit: St.VincentVolunteers

Netflix – Six Months Later

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Nearly six months ago, my wife and I decided to get a Netflix subscription. Many of our favorite television weren’t going to have full seasons due to the writer’s strike. Some, like 24, didn’t have seasons at all. We thought that this would be a good time to catch up on the classics that we missed through the years. It’s worked really well in that regard… We switch off picking one movie that we’d like for the other to see and every so often we come across one that we both missed.

I’ve been choosing movies like Fight Club and Momento – ones with a great twist from what you’d expect. I would have had 12 Monkeys at the top of this list if I didn’t already own it already. I’ve also been trying to catch her up on more traditional classics like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. The Indiana Jones movies have been tough to get recently, so I’m going to switch to the Godfather. Some say that I should have started with the Godfather, but I belong to the Peter Griffin school of thought when it comes to the movie.

Energi Gal has been choosing movies that she feels will add a little culture to my life. As usual, she’s been right. We started with Ghandi. In a sad reflection of my public school system, I was not familiar with the tremendous role he played in our world. I’ve always heard of him and I had developed a bit of knowledge, but our text books always seemed to focus on the United States. Even then, they’d go from the past to the present often ending around far before Ford’s assembly line. Ghandi spurred me to read a lot more on Wikipedia.

It hasn’t all been history lessons though. My wife has been big on musicals lately. She transitioned from Ghandi to Evita – keeping with the historical figure theme. I loved it. It was a great story and Madonna was great in it to the point we couldn’t think of anyone else who could have pulled of the role. We also saw Hairspray and Hair (unrelated musicals, if you don’t know them, but both very good). Next up was Chicago. Maybe I didn’t give it full attention as I was writing at the time, but I didn’t agree with the message it was sending (I didn’t think “he had it coming”). Recently she’s got things going in the right direction again with Phantom of the Opera. I loved that as well. Soon she’s going to piece together that my favorite television show is a musical and my myth of not liking musicals will be busted.

So you’ve been following thinking, “What does this have to do with personal finance?” My wife knows that spending $100 a piece on two theater tickets is not something that fits very easily in our budget. When watching the movie, she often laments, “the play is always better.” I try to explain that I’m not spoiled by that experience, so getting the story with million dollar sets and actresses works for me. If you look at it from that perspective, Netflix has saved us hundreds of dollars. However, I try to look at it as the value that I get for a dollar spent at Blockbuster or Redbox. In that comparison, we don’t watch enough movies to get a great value out of Netflix – it feels very fairly priced for what you get.