150 million dollars went into Casino Royale (2006) and the film grossed 606 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing Bond film ever at the time and saving the franchise after the critical disaster of Die Another Day four years earlier.
MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981) was made on such a limited budget that many of the vehicles were built from scrap parts and modified wrecks. George Miller turned those constraints into the defining look of the post-apocalyptic genre for decades to come.
In Apocalypto (2006), Mel Gibson chose to use a real stunt performer—equipped with a safety harness and helmet—rather than a dummy during the film’s massive pyramid sequence, believing it would create a far more intense and convincing sense of danger.