h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

When Paramount developed the concept of VistaVision, only twenty theatres nationwide invested the money to buy the new projectors, and as a result, the entire idea was finally abandoned. However, when Industrial Light & Magic were founded to work on the effects of Star Wars, it was found that some shots could only be executed using Vista Vision cameras. The few remaining cameras were purchased at various shops where they had been stacked away in dark corners somewhere in the back room, and were sold at the relatively cheap price of $11.000 - and when Star Wars came out, the price for a camera of such type soared to $300.000!