Most Expensive 3D Animated Movies

Most Expensive 3D Animated Movies

#1

The Polar Express

Released 11/10/04

Distributor: Buena Vista

polarexpress

Production Costs:  $170 Million (USD)

U.S. Box Office:  $173 Million  (USD)

Worldwide Box Office:  $297 Million (USD)

This 2004 feature film was based on the children’s book of the same name, by Chris Van Allsburg. The actual book can be read in about 5 minutes, but the film was 90 minutes long. The film enjoyed modest box office success, but the results for the film’s 3D Imax version were incredible. Financially, the 3D version outperformed the 2D version by 14 to 1! There are now plans to release the movie in its Imax format every year during the holiday season, so expect even higher revenue for the film in the future.

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World’s Most Expensive Train

 World’s Most Expensive Train

Single ticket $20000

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Once considered the preserve of scruffy backpackers, hardy adventurers, and vodka swigging businessmen, a new train on Russia’s Trans-Siberian route aims to lure wealthy tourists with luxury.

British Prince Michael of Kent on Thursday at a Moscow station unveiled the Golden Eagle which offers passengers ensuite bathrooms, underfloor heating and plasma screen TVs in every cabin along the 9,300 kilometre (5,778 miles) Moscow to Vladivostok route, one of the longest train trips in the world.

“Russia and trains are two great passions of mine and I’m looking forward to travelling on the Golden Eagle,” said Prince Michael, a Russian speaker and related through his grandmother to Tsar Nicholas II, in a speech.

The Trans-Siberian railway, built between 1891 and 1916, travels from Moscow through vast pine forests, over the Ural mountains and across the Siberian tundra to the Pacific Ocean.

A single ticket on the Golden Eagle will cost up to 9,595 pounds ($20000) for the 13- to 15-day journey.

A ticket on a normal Russian train costs around 10,000 roubles ($350) for the seven-day non-stop trip. The Golden Eagle, operated by firm GW Travel, will take double the time from Moscow to Vladivostock by stopping for excursions. Read the rest of this entry »

Most expensive travel

Most expensive travel 

 $20 million

MR. DENNIS TITO waited for long and paid quite a sum. Yet, the dream he latched on to stubbornly for over four decades and the astronomical $20 million he deposited into an escrow account have opened the road to space, howsoever slim and distant, for the paying tourist. Man’s spirit for adventure has never ceased and Mr. Tito’s expensive travel is one such instance. However, it would take a considerable time for this one man’s adventure to become an affordable outing. Translating Mr. Tito’s space trip into a common occurrence could be a long way away given the expenses involved for such flights and the need for a consensus on the training criteria and the basic standards for permitting non-professionals to the International Space Station (ISS) which have to be evolved. An initial and crucial test would be the ability of the 60-year-old to cope with the pressures of living in space during his six-day travel. The well-intentioned decision by the ISS Partnership that none of its 16 members would propose similar flights until detailed crew criteria have been finalised and adopted effectively puts on hold some other expressions of intent to travel to space. More immediately, however, the travel by Mr. Tito has brought out the conceptual and practical difficulties in opening up space travel to the non-professional. The Tito flight reflects the spat in space between the two competitive pioneers in cosmic exploration, the U.S. and Russia.

That the loss of the Mir space station in March has vastly restricted Russian exploits in space is evident in the objections raised by the U.S. to Mr. Tito’s flight to the ISS. The reluctance of the U.S. to give permission for the former NASA engineer-turned-banker’s trip to the ISS following the deorbital of the Mir and the Russians’ assertion that they would fly their space tourist, bring to the fore the conflict between funding and expertise in manning and operating the 16-nation ISS project. The project, which was planned as a stellar example of international cooperation, with the U.S. as the major stake holder (45 per cent) followed by Russia (30 per cent) with the remaining split between Japan, Canada and members of the European Space Agency, should not be allowed to sour on account of such issues. Expectations of a further decline in the share of Russia, which has already ceded a quarter of its resources to the U.S. in exchange for help in financing the construction of the Russian modules, is but a pointer to the difficulties ahead. Read the rest of this entry »