What is the most profitable movie ever?

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‘Avatar’? ‘Blair Witch Project’? ‘Star Wars’? The Hollywood Reporter crunches the numbers to see which film has earned the most hard cash.

What’s Hollywood’s most profitable movie ever? The answer depends on how you define “profitable.”

If you think of profit purely as a ratio of production cost to box office gross, 1999’s The Blair Witch Project and 2007’s Paranormal Activity run neck and neck.

Blair Witch involved an initial outlay of $35,000 — but that was just for the shoot; once postproduction was completed, the real budget was over $200,000 (and may have been as much as $500,000), including a sound remix and a transfer to 35mm. Artisan Entertainment’s Bill Block bought the picture for just over $1 million and (after a hefty marketing spend of $6 million to $8 million domestically alone) it earned $249 million globally.

Paranormal only cost $15,000 to make. Later, however, its sound was redone for an additional $150,000; and producers Oren Peli and Jason Blum spent an extra $50,000 to reshoot the ending at Steven Spielberg’s request, bringing the total budget to $215,000. As a return on investment (ROI), looking at the initial outlay alone, that beats Blair Witch — unless you also factor in the marketing costs, in which case Blair is in pole position.

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These Uber Air ‘Skyport’ concepts look straight out of Star Wars

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If Uber is to get its “flying taxi” service off the ground, it will need dozens of launchpads and landing sites on rooftops around cities as a supportive infrastructure. At the ride-hailing company’s second annual Elevate conference in Los Angeles, six architecture firms presented their winning designs of what these so-called “Skyports” could look like. And holy cow, these things look straight out of Star Wars.

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Star Wars AT-AT Walker For Geeky Seniors

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Geriatric geekdom in action.

If you’re having trouble getting around on your own these days, why not take a tip from Star Wars and get this sweet AT-AT styled walker?

It will make you the geekiest resident at the senior center, and a big hit with the Leias at bingo night. Cool hydraulic sound effects not included…

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Star Wars-like planet orbiting two suns discovered

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The planet named Kepler-16b, will have an extraordinary double sunset at the end of each day.

Astronomers discover a real-life Tatooine. A spectacle made popular by the “Star Wars” saga — a planet with two suns — has now been confirmed in space for the first time, astronomers revealed.

 

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Lightsaber Turns 50 – GE Engineer Explains How It Could Not Possibly Work

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Lightsaber diagram

Okay, folks, make sure you have some tissues handy because GE engineer Matt Gluesenkamp is about to break a lot of hearts. The laser just turned 50, and that got Gluesenkamp thinking about one of the most iconic representations of the technology: the lightsaber. He analyzes the tech it’d take to make them real. Is it possible? In a word, no.

 

 

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Star Wars Day: ‘May the Fourth be with You’

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Star Wars fans dressed as storm troopers during a parade.

Star Wars fans on May 4th said “may the fourth be with you” in tribute to the Hollywood films, on the unofficial day honouring the cult movies.  Millions of Jedi fans posted tributes to Luke Skywalker, C-3Po and Darth Vader on Twitter, the micro-blogging site and Facebook in celebration for the hugely successful franchise.

 

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Star Wars Burlesque Show

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Stormtroopers never looked so good

Above, Stormtrooper striptease Courtney Cruz shows off her super Trooper-wear in a Star Wars-themed burlesque show at the Los Angeles club Bordello (a sexy bar which opened at the site of a notorious, historic LA whorehouse). We don’t really have to say much else to have all the Star Wars geeks puddling their love for this artistic statement…

The Jedi Mind Control Game

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My Mind Is Stronger Than Your Mind!

This is the Star Wars Jedi game that requires you to bring to bear all of your latent telekinetic powers of the Force in order to keep a ball levitating. Similar to EEG technology that reads the alpha and beta waves created by your brain, the game comes with a headset equipped with forehead and ear sensors that translate your brain’s energy into a wireless signal that is sent to the game’s base station. The station has a tube with a ball inside (resembling the Jedi training remote Luke Skywalker used on the Millennium Falcon) that is kept levitating by a flow of air; your steady concentration adjusts the air fan’s speed, causing the ball to rise and fall…

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USB Powered Jedi Master

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Buying me you feel now like doing !

It seems like Star Wars merchandise never seems to get old, and Yoda is always a popular figure. Next, Tokyo-based Cube Works has announced a mini Yoda figure, which you can plug into your computer. You’ll be able to control the light on the lightsaber as well as Yoda’s cheeks via software installed on your computer. The site does not mention…

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Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.