American Graffiti ($750,000 budget)
A few years before he created the first Star Wars series, George Lucas, a small-time filmmaker, directed and co-wrote American Graffiti, his second project. Made with a modest budget of $750,000, the film brought in $115 million. But should we be surprised?
The coming-of-age film starring Richard Dreyfuss was a hit with the younger audience and critics alike, who gave it a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The production studio, Universal Studios, has their reservations about spending “so much” on a young and fairly inexperienced filmmaker, but it paid off.