Best Sci-Fi Movie Adaptations and How Much Money They Made

It's not easy to adapt any book into a movie. Staying true to the source material while paring down the plot into a consumable experience for moviegoers requires a delicate touch. 

No genre is more difficult than science fiction. The fans are rabid, and stories can be complicated to adapt because of special effects and technology. 

But some people have done a masterful job. These are the best sci-fi books that were made into movies and what they brought in at the box office.

30. Jumper by Steven Gould

First published: 1992

Movie: Jumper

Director: Doug Liman

Starring: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson, Diane Lane, Michael Rooker

Release date: Feb. 14, 2018

Budget: $85 million

Box office: $225.1 million

Bottom line: "Jumper" squeezed out the last bit of movie star power from "Star Wars" mainstay Hayden Christensen and brought back an obscure, out-of-print sci-fi novel from the early 1990s with a pretty great concept. 

"Jumper" is one of several films from director Doug Liman to make the list, and the novel's author, Steven Gould, actually followed his book up with a sequel, "Reflex," which came out in 2004.

As a film, "Jumper" cost a fortune to budget. It was $85 million to produce, not including marketing costs. It ended up with a $225 million box-office haul, but that wasn't enough to get a sequel green-lit. 

Note: These rankings include graphic novels, but not novellas, short stories or comic books.

29. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

First published: 1985

Movie: Ender's Game

Director: Gavin Hood

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Harrison Ford, Viola Davis, Haille Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin

Release date: Nov. 1, 2013

Budget: $115 million

Box office: $125.5 million

Bottom line: "Ender's Game" is a pretty underrated sci-fi film. But it has some pretty serious issues attached to it — mainly trying to reconcile how much, if at all, we should enjoy a movie made by someone with personal views as abhorrent as the book's author, Orson Scott Card. 

Card was hardly a household name when Lionsgate began work on producing "Ender's Game," and the company wasn't aware of Card's outspoken views against homosexuality and same-sex marriage. LBGTQ groups called for a boycott of the film, and Lionsgate distanced itself from Card and his views ahead of its release. 

The movie, which is actually very well done, drowned in a sea of bad press and bombed at the box office. 

28. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem

First published: 1961

Movie: Solaris

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: George Clooney

Release date: Nov. 29, 2002

Budget: $47 million

Box office: $30 million

Bottom line: Here's the thing about movie audiences. They're pretty predictable. 

So if you make and market a sci-fi film starring George Clooney and release it close to Christmas, audiences aren't going to respond to an existential pondering on isolation, suicide and failed relationships. 

That doesn't mean "Solaris" isn't a good movie. It's just misunderstood. It's worth pointing out that Stanislaw Lem's 1961 novel is so beloved in Russia that within a decade of its release it was made into a 1968 two-part television series and a feature film in 1972. 

27. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

First published: 1912

Movie: John Carter

Director: Andrew Stanton

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Dominic West, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe

Release date: March 9, 2012 

Budget: $350 million

Box office: $284 million 

Bottom line: The catastrophic failure of Disney's "John Carter" in 2012 led to the Mouse company writing off some $200 million in losses related to the film. We have little doubt that a simple name change from the generic "John Carter" to what it was actually based on — "A Princess of Mars" — could have made up some of the difference. 

Disney was understandably banking on "John Carter" becoming a franchise. Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote nine total novels in the John Carter series, which served as the inspiration for many of the greatest sci-fi writers of all time, including Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein and Carl Sagan. 

26. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

First published: 2011

Movie: Ready Player One

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance

Release date: March 29, 2018

Budget: $175 million

Box office: $583 million

Bottom line: While we didn't hate Steven Spielberg's 2018 adaptation of Ernest Cline's novel as much as most audiences, leaving it off the list means throwing some shade on Cline's novel. And we can't do that. 

Even if the movie was pretty average, it just makes us appreciate Cline's book that much more. The novel was an unbelievably delightful mix of pop-culture and nerd-culture references that seemed impossible to put on film. Which it was.

But Spielberg gave it a good try.

25. Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

First published: 1986

Movie: Watchmen

Director: Zack Snyder

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Release date: March 6, 2009

Budget: $130 million

Box office: $185.3 million

Bottom line: "Watchmen" is firmly entrenched as the greatest graphic novel of all time, and the film version in 2009 was slavishly devoted to the original text with one glaring difference. Director Zack Snyder changed the ending. 

That one mistake doesn't offset what is a pretty good movie for the other three-fourths of the way. Although the 2019 HBO series was so good it seems to have stolen much of the thunder away from the movie version.

We like to think we can appreciate both. 

24. Under the Skin by Michel Faber

First published: 2000

Movie: Under the Skin

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Adam Pearson

Release date: March 14, 2014

Budget: $13.3 million

Box office: $7.3 million

Bottom line: This dark, highly introspective film based on Michel Faber's 2000 novel of the same name involves an alien who takes a human, female form on Earth and kidnaps men to send back to her home planet.

The film does a really smart job of doing this with a budget of $13.3 million, but this movie isn't for the faint of heart and had a hard time finding an audience. 

Director Jonathan Glazer, who also made the 2000 film "Sexy Beast," has a style that isn't for everybody with its brutality. 

23. Metropolis by Thea Von Harbou

First published: 1925

Movie: Metropolis

Director: Fritz Lang

Starring: Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, Gustav Frohlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Release date: Jan. 10, 1927

Box office: N/A

Bottom line: We like to imagine the absolute confusion that washed over movie audiences who came out to see "Metropolis" during its initial run in theaters in 1927. Imagine explaining the robot to people from that era? 

What's crazy about "Metropolis" is that since its release almost 100 years ago, it has been edited into nine different versions, ranging from 90 minutes to around 160 minutes. 

22. The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey

First published: 2014

Movie: The Girl with All the Gifts

Director: Colm McCarthy

Starring: Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close, Paddy Considine, Sennia Nanua

Release date: Feb. 24, 2017

Budget: $5 million

Box office: $4.08 million

Bottom line: This isn't the only zombie movie we'll put on the list, and the ones that did make it have some distinct things in common — like the focus on the "sci" in "sci-fi," which in this case means a study in fungi. 

It shouldn't come as a surprise that some of the best sci-fi/zombie movies focus on trying to obtain a cure for zombies, which "The Girl with All the Gifts" has in spades.

Of all the best sci-fi books made into movies, this one had one of the lowest chances to be exposed to an audience in theaters. It's been almost totally discovered and beloved by audiences via streaming services.

21. War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

First published: 1897

Movie: War of the Worlds

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Miranda Otto, Tim Robbins, Justin Chatwin, Morgan Freeman (voice only)

Release date: June 29, 2005

Budget: $132 million

Box office: $603.9 million

Bottom line: H.G. Wells was one of the sci-fi O.G. novelists of all time alongside Jules Verne, and the genre owes a good part (if not all) of its mainstream popularity to their works. 

The best example of that can be seen in Wells' work, which continues to be adapted into films to this day. One of the better, modern adaptations was the 2005 Steven Spielberg version of "War of the Worlds" starring Tom Cruise. 

This represented an interesting moment in Cruise's career. Following the release of "War of the Worlds," he experienced the first real cold streak of his career as a leading man. Outside of a few "Mission: Impossible" films, Cruise didn't have another standalone hit for almost a decade. 

20. The Iron Man: A Children's Story in Five Nights by Ted Hughes

First published: 1968

Movie: The Iron Giant

Director: Brad Bird

Starring: Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marenthal, Christopher McDonald, M. Emmett Walsh

Release date: Aug. 6, 1999 

Budget: $50 million

Box office: $31.3 million

Bottom line: It's too bad Warner Brothers didn't realize what it had at the time of the theatrical release of "The Iron Giant" in 1999. While it flopped at the box office, the story of a boy and his gigantic robot has become one of the most beloved animated films of all time over the ensuing decades. 

One notable thing about "The Iron Giant" is it's the directorial debut of Brad Bird. He's directed five films since then that have grossed approximately $3.4 billion, including "The Incredibles," "Incredibles 2," "Ratatouille" and "Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol." 

19. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

First published: 1897

Movie: The Invisible Man

Director: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Harriet Dyer, Michael Dorman, Oliver Jackson-Cohen

Release date: Feb. 28, 2020

Budget: $7 million

Box office: $143.2 million ($7 million)

Bottom line: H.G. Wells wrote "The Invisible Man" in 1897, and it's a real testament to the work that in 2020 we were still getting film adaptations of his novel. 

The latest one might be the best of them. Starring Elisabeth Moss and directed by Leigh Whanell, the writer behind the "Saw" and "Insidious" franchises, we've got a crazy good 1-2 punch and a thriller that really delivers.

The place of "The Invisible Man" in history is fascinating. Released in theaters just two weeks before the pandemic, it went directly from theaters to available to purchase on streaming in an unprecedented move at the time. 

18. Never Let Me Go by Kazuro Ishiguro

First published: 2005

Movie: Never Let Me Go

Director: Mark Romanek

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley

Release date: Sept. 5, 2010

Budget: $15 million

Box office: $9.5 million

Bottom line: If you're looking for a heartwarming sci-fi tale, "Never Let Me Go" is not the move. 

This tragic tale from author Kazuro Ishiguro benefits in its film version from some knockout casting. There are three future Academy Award nominees in the three main roles with Keira Knightley and before-they-blew-up spots for Carey Mulligan ("Promising Young Woman") and Andrew Garfield ("Hacksaw Ridge"). 

What's the concept? In the future, you can pay to grow a clone simply to harvest its organs when you need to. 

17. Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

First published: 2014

Movie: Annihilation

Director: Alex Garland

Starring: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny

Release date: Feb. 23, 2018

Budget: $50 million (estimated)

Box office: $43.1 million

Bottom line: One of the newest novels to make the list, Jeff VanderMeer's "Annihilation," released in 2014, is also one of the best and the first book of VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy. 

What's crazy about "Annihilation" is that the film version flopped at the box office despite pretty much perfect casting/director symmetry, led by director Alex Garland ("28 Days Later") and Oscar winner Natalie Portman leading a team of talented female leads. 

The book itself is wonderful and so is the movie. We're still confused as to why it wasn't a bigger hit at the box office. 

16. Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson

First published: 1967

Movie: Logan's Run

Director: Michael Anderson

Starring: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Peter Ustinov

Release date: June 23, 1976

Budget: $7.5 million

Box office: $25 million

Bottom line: So many attempts have been made to remake "Logan's Run" in the last 20 years that it really speaks to the popularity of not only the original novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson but the 1976 movie starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Richard Jordan. 

In the film version, if you can get past the cheesy special effects, "Logan's Run" holds up incredibly well. It's probably one of the more underrated sci-fi films of all time.

A lot of that credit goes to York, who shot to fame again in the 1990s thanks to his role in the "Austin Powers" film series. 

15. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

First published: 2008

Movie: The Hunger Games

Director: Gary Ross

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Donald Sutherland, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci

Release date: March 23, 2012

Budget: $78 million

Box office: $694.4 million

Bottom line: "The Hunger Games" was the first novel of a trilogy from author Suzanne Collins and slowly turned into a sensation in the two years following its release. 

When it finally made it to the big screen in 2012, it had a dynamic A-List star in the leading role with Jennifer Lawrence, who was just one year away from her Academy Award-winning role in "Silver Linings Playbook." 

Say what you will about the sequels, but "The Hunger Games" is an awesome movie. 

14. Contact by Carl Sagan

First published: 1985

Movie: Contact

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Starring: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, Angela Bassett

Release date: July 11, 1997

Budget: $90 million

Box office: $171.1 million

Bottom line: The hype around "Contact" isn't something today's movie fans really know much about. It was the follow-up to director Robert Zemeckis' "Forrest Gump," which won six Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and featured an A-list version of Jodie Foster and an up-and-coming young star in Matthew McConaughey. 

With expectations as high as they were, it's not hard to see why the movie came tumbling back to Earth as it did — both in its critical reception and the box office. But we love it, and we love its contemplative nature and how much its reach probably exceeds its grasp.

Sci-fi fans should give the Carl Sagan adaptation another shot. 

13. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

First published: 1818

Movie: Young Frankenstein

Director: Mel Brooks

Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr, Kenneth Mars, Madeline Kahn

Release date: Dec. 15, 1974

Budget: $2.8 million

Box office: $86.2 million

Bottom line: There were dozens of versions of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel for us to choose from, which is a wonderful testament to the brilliance of her original work, which was originally titled "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus." 

We picked the 1974 version, "Young Frankenstein," because it's not just the funniest. It's also the best version. Oh-so-serious attempts like "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" in 1994 have fallen flat on their face. 

Getting peak Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks has some real Jordan-Pippen vibes. 

12. Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein

First published: 1959

Movie: Starship Troopers

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Jake Busey, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside, Seth Gilliam

Release date: Nov. 7. 1997

Budget: $105 million

Box office: $121.2 million

Bottom line: Robert A. Heinlein's most popular novel actually debuted as a two-parter in a sci-fi magazine in the late 1950s as "Starship Soldier" before it turned into "Starship Troopers" in its novel form. 

Neither of those versions accounted for the absolutely bananas sci-fi movie that came out 40 years later from director Paul Verhoeven. It was the last movie in a decade stretch for Verhoeven that will stand up to the very best runs ever.

That lineup includes "RoboCop" (1987), "Total Recall" (1990), "Basic Instinct" (1992), "Showgirls" (1995) and "Starship Troopers" (1997). 

11. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

First published: 1954

Movie: I Am Legend

Director: Francis Lawrence

Starring: Will Smith, Dash Mihok, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Willow Smith

Release date: Dec. 14, 2007

Budget: $150 million

Box office: $585.3 million

Bottom line: Before we got Will Smith's big-budget blockbuster in 2007, two versions of Richard Matheson's legendary sci-fi novel hit the silver screen  — "The Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price in 1964 and "The Omega Man" starring Charlton Heston in 1971. 

The fact the concept has endured over such a long period of time is proof of the popularity and brilliance of Matheson's work. We're of the camp that the alternate ending of Smith's version (the one where he lives) should've been the one that made it into theaters.

Give it another 20 years, and we'll probably get another version. 

10. The Children of Men by P.D. James

First published: 1992

Movie: Children of Men

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam

Release date: Dec. 25, 2006

Budget: $70 million

Box office: $76.5 million

Bottom line: Director Alfonso Cuaron has won two Academy Awards for Best Director for "Gravity" and "Roma," but you can make a good argument that his adaptation of P.D. James' "Children of Men" is actually his best film. 

One of the great sci-fi subgenres is dystopian futures. Few films have done it better than "Children of Men," and few writers have done it better than James, who imagined a future where men and women have gone entirely infertile. 

9. World War Z by Max Brooks

First published: 2006

Movie: World War Z

Director: Marc Forster

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox

Release date: June 21, 2013

Budget: $230 million (estimated)

Box office: $540.5 million

Bottom line: Zombie movies that made the cut had to have a distinctly scientific bend to them, and "World War Z" meets that criteria and more. 

While the movie pulls its general plot points from the novel by Max Brooks, the book itself is a pretty amazing experience in audio form, where they had the great idea of using different voice actors as the conspiracy-style story is relayed. 

The movie's production played out in the public eye thanks to having A-lister Brad Pitt as the lead, but it ended up paying off in the best ways possible — a great final product on the screen and boatloads of cash at the box office.

Now how about a sequel? 

8. The Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

First published: 1955

Movie: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Director: Philip Kaufman

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

Release date: Dec. 22, 1978

Budget: $3.5 million

Box office: $24.9 million

Bottom line: At Halloween, feel free to cue up the 1978 adaptation (and best adaptation) of Jack Finney's 1955 novel — "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" starring Donald Sutherland. 

The 1978 version had the benefit of assembling some pretty elite talent both in front of and behind the camera. Sutherland might be one of the more underrated actors of all time and was in his leading-man prime.

Director Philip Kaufman went on to helm "The Right Stuff," "Rising Sun" and the controversial "Henry & June."

7. Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

First published: 1963

Movie: Planet of the Apes 

Director: Franklin J. Schaffner

Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison

Release date: April 3, 1968

Budget: $5.8 million

Box office: $33.4 million ($5.8 million)

Bottom line: We're fans of Tim Burton's 2001 version of "Planet of the Apes," but that doesn't mean it holds a candle to the 1968 version starring Charlton Heston — although Burton's version is much more faithful to the novel by Pierre Boulle. 

The 1968 version gets the nod in large part thanks to its ability to craft two of the more iconic moments in sci-fi history, Heston screaming out "You Damn Dirty Apes!" and the heart-stopping ending on the beach. 

6. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick

First published: 1968

Movie: Blade Runner

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Harrison Ford, Edward James Olmos, Sean Young, Darryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer

Release date: June 25, 1982

Budget: $30 million

Box office: $41.5 million

Bottom line: One of several films adapted by director Ridley Scott to make the list, this version of Phillip K. Dick's 1968 novel with the clunky title of "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" became one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time. It also was a major jumping-off point for Harrison Ford becoming one of the biggest movie stars of all time. 

That being said, the success of "Blade Runner" didn't come in its initial theatrical run, where it barely made back its budget. It was a sensation on the home video market, which was just coming to life in the early/mid 1980s. 

5. Snowpierce (Le Transperceneige) by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand and Jean-Marc Rochette

First published: 1982

Movie: Snowpiercer

Director: Bong Joon-ho

Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner, Ko Asung, John Hurt

Release date: July 29, 2013

Budget: $40 million

Box office: $86.8 million ($40 million budget)

Bottom line: The French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige," or "Snowpiercer," ended up bringing together more nations than a U.N. summit. The film version was directed by South Korean Oscar winner Bong Joon-ho, found its leading man in American Chris Evans and was produced in part by a company out of the Czech Republic. 

As a film, "Snowpiercer" is not for the faint of heart. It's the kind of movie where you hold your breath from start to finish, and please, for the love of God, don't try to eat anything while you're watching it. 

4. All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

First published: 2004

Movie: Edge of Tomorrow

Director: Doug Liman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson

Release date: June 6, 2014

Budget: $178 million

Box office: $370.5 million

Bottom line: Based on the Japanese young adult novel "All You Need Is Kill" by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, "Edge of Tomorrow" represented sort of a return to form for Tom Cruise, who hadn't put out a hit outside of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise in almost 10 years — a string of flops that included "Lions for Lamb," "Valkyrie" and "Rock of Ages." 

"Edge of Tomorrow" isn't just Doug Liman's best film as a director. It's also neck-and-neck with "Collateral" as Cruise's best film of the last 20 years. 

3. The Martian by Andy Weir

First published: 2011

Movie: The Martian

Director: Ridley Scott

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Donald Glover, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Release date: Dec. 2, 2015

Budget: $108 million

Box office: $630.2 million

Bottom line: In the history of writers shooting their own shot, Andy Weir might stand on top of the mountain. 

Weir, a former computer programmer, self-published "The Martian" in 2011 on his website for free. At the request of fans, he published it on Kindle for 99 cents, which was the lowest allowable price to charge. Within three years, it was sold to a major publishing company and became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. 

The movie version became both a critical and box-office success, grossing over $630 million and earning seven Academy Award nominations. 

2. Dune by Frank Herbert

First published: 1965

Movie: Dune: Part One

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Zendaya, Stephen McKinley Henderson, 

Release date: Oct. 21, 2021

Budget: $165 million

Box office: $300 million through Nov. 1, 2021

Bottom line: If you've seen Denis Villeneuve's version of "Dune," you know this isn't recency bias. This movie delivers the goods, even though it only hits the halfway point of Frank Herbert's seminal 1965 novel by the end.

Thankfully for movie fans all over the world, the success of "Dune" allowed Legendary and Warner Brothers to greenlight the theaters-only sequel, "Dune: Part Two," and give it a release date of October 2023. 

The big question now for Dune fans is who will play Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, one of the novel's primary antagonists alongside Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. The role was originally played by Sting in David Lynch's 1984 version of the film. 

1. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

First published: 1990

Movie: Jurassic Park

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, BD Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards

Release date: June 11, 1993

Budget: $63 million

Box office: $1.034 billion

Bottom line: The popularity of Michael Crichton's groundbreaking 1990 novel about extinct dinosaurs coming back to life via DNA cloning quickly went into production with director Steven Spielberg attached and groundbreaking digital special effects from George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic. 

Spielberg sanded some of the more violent edges off Crichton's novel to make the film easier for public consumption and made it on a relatively modest budget of $63 million.

The film grossed over $1 billion at the box office and has led to four more sequels, with the latest, "Jurassic World: Dominion," scheduled for a 2022 release.