What is the highest-grossing sci-fi movie of all time?

Sci-fi has been blowing minds and emptying wallets since A Trip to the Moon first rocketed onto screens in 1902. From the rubber-suited monsters of '50s B-movies to the mind-bending epics of the '60s and '70s, all the way to today's CGI extravaganzas (and whatever the heck Netflix is throwing at the wall), it's a genre that's always pushed the boundaries of imagination - and studio budgets.

Speaking of cash, sci-fi flicks have a tendency to either print money or incinerate it faster than a plasma rifle. Take Blade Runner, for instance. In 1982, it barely scraped together $41 million at the box office. Fast forward to 2017, and its sequel, Blade Runner 2049, cost a cool $150 million to make. The future ain't cheap, folks.

But when sci-fi hits, it hits big. We're talking "buy-your-own-private-space-station" big. Films like Star Wars, Avatar, and Jurassic Park didn't just break box office records; they obliterated them like a Death Star. These intergalactic, time-traveling, gene-splicing spectacles have become cultural touchstones, sparking endless debates about whether Han shot first or if velociraptors could really open doors.

From ray guns to replicants, warp drives to Westworldian robots, science fiction has always been our window into possible (and impossible) futures. It's a genre that asks the big questions: What if aliens attacked? What if robots rebelled? What if we could download our brains into computers? (And more importantly, would we still have to pay for a Netflix subscription?)

So, in a universe of blockbusters, which sci-fi behemoth has assimilated the most of our hard-earned cash? Which film has gone where no box office has gone before?