Hollywood's highest-earning men

There have been few movies that have fundamentally changed Hollywood like Avatar. The movie is the highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusting for inflation) with $2.7 billion in box office earnings. It revolutionized computer-generated images with new motion capture techniques and, most importantly, it paved the way for a true 3-D revolution. In the wake of Avatar, almost all Hollywood blockbusters, from Harry Potter to Tron, now need to be in 3-D.

The film's incredible success has helped catapult director/writer/producer James Cameron to the top of our list of the Hollywood's Top-Earning Men. Cameron earned $210 million between June 2009 and June 2010.

Slide Show: Hollywood's 10 Highest-Earning Men

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Expect Cameron to stay on our list for many years to come as Avatar comes out on DVD again and again (director's cuts, 3-D versions, etc.) and as the movie moves on to television. By the time the Avatar river of money slows to a trickle, Cameron will likely have Avatar 2 ready for theaters.

Image: James Cameron

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