The Top 11 Most Profitable Films in Box Office History

9. Home Alone

“Kevin!” Home Alone was expected to be a success. The fact that it became seasonal, box office gold didn’t really surprise anyone. Anything written by John Hughes comes with more charm than real life possibly muster–a perfect escape from reality without a complete departure from it. However, it was one of the few Hughes influenced films that geared toward the entire family. The Home Alone cast was solid, the story was great, the comedy–timeless. Why it’s so entertaining to see other human beings suffering, we’ll likely never know, but it’s big money in movies, TV and now, on YouTube. 20th Century Fox expected the film to be a moderate success, and offered it a $15 million budget (then…approximately $30 million now). Then, the unexpected happened. People fell in love with Macaulay Culkin. It went on to gross $477 million (adjusted).