15 Profitable Movies

The 15 Most Profitable Movies of All Time - CNBC

You don't expect this kind of slipshod reporting from a major network. Major problems with the list (amended to include reader comments):

1. The headline is not accurate. The list does not represent the "profit" generated by the films. It is based entirely on the ratio of theatrical box office to production budget, thus ignoring all other revenue streams. (Not to mention marketing costs.) Add in licensing deals, DVD sales, TV rights, etc, and then see if you still think that Slumdog Millionaire was more profitable than Star Wars.

2. Even by their own inaccurate definition, the list itself is inaccurate. It simply includes 15 films that were kinda profitable, not the 15 most profitable. They left out Blair Witch, which by their definition would be the most profitable film of all time by a very wide margin; Clerks, which would be number #2; and the Passion of the Christ, which would be #4 on their existing list, or #6 if the list were amended to place Blair Witch and Clerks at the top. Maybe they left out some others which I am forgetting.

3. Finally, should "most profitable" be defined as "made the most money" or "made the highest rate of return"? By their definition, Other Crap, which makes a couple of hundred dollars per year in Amazon ads, is more profitable than Exxon/Mobil because Other Crap costs nothing to produce (it is hosted by Blogger). Yeah, I wish. In business we always used to say that you can't deposit a percentage in the bank. The total amount of money made by Avatar was more than the total amount made by films like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, although the rate of return was smaller.

Following this logic, you might say that My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a lot like other crap.

In more ways than one.