Films often get measured by gross box office, with Avatar (both of them) reigning supreme on this measure.
However, using a measure of return on investment (percentage of budget recovered) throws up an alternative perspective.
Winners on this measure are E.T. (7,552%) but also films like “The King’s Speech (2,849%), Home Alone (2,648%), and breakout sleepers like Crocodile Dundee (3,282%), Slumdog Millionaire (2,523%) and … er, Black Swan?“
