Adjusted for Inflation, the Ten Commandments’ (Made in 1956) adjusted gross is $1,093,850,000.
The Budget for the movie in 1956 was a “mere” $13 Million.
See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ten_Commandments_(1956_film)
Today, adjusted for inflation, $13 Million would be about : $110 Million (Still a smaller budget then Noah ).
Why the need to “adjust for inflation” when talking about budgets or box office gross?
If you “adjusted for inflation,” you could argue that Henry Ford’s Model T and tractor operation is more successful than the Ford Motors of today. Nobody makes that argument, because it’s absurd.
“Passion of the Christ” has made at least three times the money at the box office that “The Ten Commandmants” made. If you factor in DVD, it’s made six times that amount. In raw dollars, it’s clearly the more successful film.