“Titanic” is far from the first Hollywood movie to bust its budget, although it is the first to break the $200 million barrier (in real dollars). Here are the 10 costliest movies, adjusted for inflation*.
1. “War and Peace” (1967)
$495 million
The nine-hour Soviet production features an hour-long re-creation of the Battle of Borodino that may be the most amazing battle sequence on film. Took five years to make.
2. “Cleopatra” (1963)
$231 million
Liz Taylor as Cleo and Richard Burton as Marc Antony in a surprisingly literate, four-hour saga. The film almost sank 20th Century Fox.
3. “Titanic” (1997)
$200 million
4. “Inchon” (1982)
$173 million
Financed by Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Unification Church, this mind-boggling Korean War movie features epic-battle scenes. As Gen. MacArthur, Laurence Olivier used W. C. Fields-like accent.
5. “Waterworld” (1995)
Futuristic fantasy of a world covered by oceans; a kind of waterlogged “Road Warrior.” Shooting on open seas drove up budget.
6. “Superman II” 1980)
$156 million
Tongue-in-cheek sequel is loaded with amazing effects. Features Gene Hackman as Luthor, and three villains from Krypton.
7. `Speed 2″ (1997)
$145 million
Action thriller with the brakes sawed off. Packed with cliffhangers, pyrotechnics and crashes.
8. “Superman” (1978)
$132 million
Won an Oscar for its effects. Big action, overblown opening sequences.
9. “Intolerance” (1916)
$131 million
Four-part silent “film fugue” of bigotry throughout history. Sets for the Babylonian sequence were the largest ever made; one scene involved 15,000 people and 250 chariots.
10. “Ben Hur” (1925)
$126 million
First had a disastrous Italian location shoot, lost its original director and star, and had to be completely remade in Hollywood. Spectacular chariot race.
* Estimated budgets have been adjusted to 1997 dollars using the Consumer Price Index.
Sources: Variety, Entertainment Weekly, “The Top 10 of Everything”
