1950s Deja Vu - Nuclear Bombs and Movies

I feel like I'm back in the 1950s because ...


Fear of nuclear bombs is rampant again
     Today, per the New York Times, Iran won't agree to send their uranium to Russia and we fear they are trying to develop a nuclear bomb.
     In the 1950s, it was Russia's nuclear bombs we feared.  So, the U.S. test exploded 188 of them between 1950-1959 versus 82 exploded by Russia (per this great Australian Government Geoscience website I uncovered doing research for the book Cause of Death).

The costs of the top box office movies are at record highs
     Top 2 domestic box office movies 1950-1959:  The Ten Commandments, 1956 cost $105 million (in consumer price index adjusted $'s) and Ben-Hur, 1959 cost $118 million 

     Top 2 domestic box office movies 2000-2009:  The Dark Knight (Batman), 2008 cost $252.9 million and Shrek 2, 2004 cost $171 million (in consumer price index adjusted $'s).

3-D films are out in force
     The Top 5 1950s 3-D films (in terms of highest domestic box office) are  House of Wax, 1953; Hondo, 1953; Money From Home, 1953; Miss Sadie Thompson, 1953 and Bwana Devil, 1952

     The Top 5 2000s 3-D films (per boxofficemojo.com) are Up, 2009; Monsters vs Aliens, 2009; Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosarus, 2009; G-Force, 2009 and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, 2009

And horror is alive and well
      The top 1950s horror movies were in 3D:  House of Wax, 1953 (cost $925,000 - now $7.5 million); It Came From Outer Space, 1953 and Creature From the Black Lagoon, 1954 (costs unknown).

     Today's supernatural horror movie Paranormal Activity reportedly cost only $15,000 and is up to #12 on the list of 2000s supernatural horror films (per boxofficemojo.com).