“Argo” is widely expected to capture the Academy Award for Best Picture on Sunday, but when it comes to profits, “Beasts of the Southern Wild” is this Oscar season’s biggest winner.

The little indie that could was produced for a mere $1.5 million and pulled off a worldwide gross of $12.3 million. Though perfectly respectable for an avant-garde picture with no stars, that final tally is a far cry from blockbuster status. Indeed, it’s the lowest grossing film among all the nominees, but it still represents the biggest return on investment for its producers. The film made more than seven times its budget -- a better return even than “Life of Pi,” which is tops in terms of total box office among all the Best Picture nominees.

As for “Argo,” Ben Affleck and company may be the one’s hoisting that gold statue aloft when the final envelope is opened at Sunday night's show, but the movie itself is an also-ran when it comes to profitability. The Iranian hostage crisis thriller was produced for $44.5 million and netted $204.6 million worldwide, more than three times what it cost to film. That’s a sterling investment, one most movie producers would be thrilled to see, however, it’s less than “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Life of Pi” and “Les Misérables,” all of which saw bigger returns.

Also read: Will 7 of Oscar's 9 Best Picture Nominees Cross the $100M Mark Domestically?

Much has been written in the Hollywood trades this year about how commercially successful the current crop of Best Picture nominees are when compared to previous contests. Last year, one film, “The Help,” crossed $100 million at the domestic box office. This time, an astounding six films have already crossed that barrier and another one, “Zero Dark Thirty,” is poised to top $100 million in stateside ticket sales when it concludes its run.

But there are flaws with that rubric. After all, in an age of ballooning budgets, $100 million is not the magic number it was even five years ago. Many films that hit that figure at the domestic box office still have to rely on ancillary revenue from DVD and video-on-demand in order to claw their way back to profitability.

A sounder means of analysis is to compare the costs of this year’s crop of contenders with their grosses, with the caveat -- and it’s a big one -- that this does not take into account marketing expenditures. Moreover, a film's gross does not represent pure profit for its studio or producer, as exhibitors take a sizable chunk of a movie's ticket sales.

Nor does looking at box office allow for the financial windfall that “Argo” and others will receive on the home video front should they pick up a few golden guys on Sunday and get the opportunity to plaster “Oscar Winner!” on DVD and Blu-ray cases. Moreover, many of the nominated films, like "Lincoln," are still in theaters and still rolling out in foreign territories, meaning there are more opportunities to cash in on the awards buzz.

Still, even if “Beasts of the Southern Wild” fails to capture an Oscar in any of the four categories in which it is nominated, it’s still ranks as a big winner for its investors. After all, Academy Awards are nice, but this is still a business. Right?

Here's a look at the Best Picture nominees in order of their return on investment:

Ranking Best Picture Nominees by ROI

SEE ALSO: How to buy an Oscar >

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Investigation Discovery's "Dark Minds" explores unsolved murders likely committed by serial killers, and its second season is more dramatic than ever.

Investigation Discovery sent BI an advance copy of the episode premiering Feb. 27. It explores the saga of the Original Night Stalker, a serial killer who terrorized Southern California in the '70s and '80s.

In the episode, nonfiction crime author M. William Phelps thinks he has a shot at solving the long-unsolved crime because he has access to a secret weapon — an incarcerated murderer called Raven. 

"I don't have a badge," Phelps said in the show. "But I do have something the cops don't have: someone who understands the dark mind of a murderer because he is one."

(In a press release on the show, Investigation Discovery bills the program as a "real-life 'Silence of the Lambs.'")

Just in case Phelps' dark words don't adequately underscore the seriousness of the case, every time he talks to Raven on the phone an eerie raven flutters onto the screen. 

The entire episode plays like a bad mini-drama movie on a low-budget cable network.

Here's how Phelps describes the Original Night Stalker: "Our guy, he's out. He's stalking the neighborhood. As soon as the sun goes down and twilight is over it's time for him to out and play." 

The show really doesn't need to play up how scary serial killers are. The idea of people preying on other humans is disturbing enough on its own.

Serial killers feel no empathy with their victims and "have no appreciation for the absolute agony and terror and fear that the victim is demonstrating," Chicago-based forensic psychiatrist Dr. Helen Morrison told Business Insider. 

Plus, the show had plenty of real-life dramatic footage to work with, including an interview with a woman who was attacked by a man who was likely the Original Night Stalker.

Her story was gut-wrenching on its own and needed no dramatization.  

Watch a clip from the premiere, courtesy of Investigation Discovery, and judge for yourself:

SEE ALSO: Lifetime's Casey Anthony Movie Made The Prosecutor Look Like An Idiot

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The US Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, and each award winner will be presented with an Oscar, a 13.5-inch tall, 8.5 pound, gold-plated statuette recognizing her filmmaking prowess.

Since 1950, Oscar-winners have been required to sign a contract stating they will sell the Oscar back to the Academy at a nominal price if they ever want to unload it. But the statuettes awarded before 1950 can be—and have been—openly sold to others.

As you would expect, it’s difficult to find records for every Oscar sale, but a Hollywood memorabilia dealer, who runs the website hollywoodgoldenguy.com, has compiled a partial list of about 30 on his site. The top 20, by sale price, are shown above.

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Before celebrating the 2013 Oscar winners, it's time to remember that even award winning actors can produce some really, really bad work.

That's especially true when you look at their commercials.

From a young Russell Crowe preaching the benefits of studying theology at Avondale College, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Australia, to Nicolas Cage dancing around with robots in a Japanese ad for Sankyo Pachinko, we have gathered the 10 worst ads starring Academy Award winners.

Whether its an ad from early on in their career or something they were paid boatloads to shoot in Japan, here's the worst from the best.

Sean Connery, Best Actor for "The Untouchables" (1987)

Sean Connery is sitting next to a bunny in a convertible and is singing about yogurt. The summary says it all.

Kim Basinger, Best Supporting Actress for "LA Confidential" (1998)

Before she was a film noir vixen, Kim Basinger starred in an ad for Body on Tap Shampoo in 1978. The awful commercial does have an Oscar-worthy line, though: "Brewed with 1/3 real beer, but don't drink it." OK, Kim.

Nicolas Cage, Best Actor for "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995)

Nicolas Cage is known for his zany Japanese commercials for Sankyo Pachinko. Some involve dancing robots. 

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First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on the "Late Show with Jim Fallon" Friday night.

She performed a bunch of different "mom-dance" moves with the comedian, who was dressed in drag, to promote her "Let's Move" campaign.  

It turns out Mrs. Obama isn't a bad dancer. She's up on pop-culture, too. She ended the dance session with the Dougie (the same move that solidified Kate Upton as an Internet superstar). 

Watch the video below:  

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Come Sunday, while the stars are celebrating the 85th Academy Awards at the Dolby theater, you won't see four-time Oscar winner Woody Allen there in suit and tie.

The director is notorious for turning down his Oscar invite every year.

The only year he attended was in 2002 following 9/11 when he thanked Hollywood for its support of his hometown.

Rumors abound on Allen's whereabouts on Hollywood's biggest night.

Some say the director stayed home one year to watch basketball while others say he plays a gig with his own band in New York City. 

While Allen does schedule performances Monday nights at Michael's Pub on the East Side in his hometown, that's not why he stays away from the West Coast.

Rather, biographer Eric Lax told NPR last year Allen avoids the Oscars for one simple reason: He doesn't believe in it.

"It's really almost impossible, as he puts it, to judge art, that it's so subjective, you can't really say, well, this performance is better than that or that writing is better than this and that, if you get caught in that trap of relying on other people, however great they are, to tell you whether you're any good, you're either going to consciously or subconsciously start playing to that group."

After Allen's 1973 film "Sleeper" wasn't nominated, ABC News quoted him voicing that same sentiment.

"The whole concept of awards is silly," said Allen. "I cannot abide by the judgment of other people, because if you accept it when they say you deserve an award, then you have to accept it when they say you don't."

SEE ALSO: Inside the Oscar nominee's $48,000 gift bag >

SEE ALSO: How to buy an Oscar >

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Madonna, who only recently joined Instagram, appears to have broken the Facebook-owned photo-sharing site's rules.

The mononymous pop celebrity posted a warning addressed to her that accused her of violating Instagram's community guidelines.

Instagram's rules ban nudity and the posting of images that don't belong to the user posting them, among other restrictions.

Madonna has more than 150,000 followers on Instagram. Many of them leapt to the assumption that Madonna was being punished for photos that displayed cleavage or ample portions of the star's buttocks. It's possible, however, that Instagram took action for other reasons.

For example, Madonna posted at least two photos of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist whom she has long cited as an inspiration.

Of course, it's difficult to know if those were actual copyright violations. Madonna may in fact own the photos in question; she's a known collector of Kahlo's works and other Kahlo-related material.

She misspelled Kahlo's name in one posting, though that's not a violation of Instagram rules.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company typically does not comment on individual users' use of its services.

Instagram drew criticism late last year for revising its terms of service in a way that suggested it might sell users' photos. CEO Kevin Systrom apologized and the service retracted some of the more controversial terms.

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It's been more than eight months since the season 2 finale of "Game of Thrones."

Since then, the trailers and posters haven't offered any hints at what to expect when the series returns March 31.

HBO just released a minute long trailer finally giving a better glimpse at what's to come, and everyone's getting ready for battle. 

Now that you've watched, here are five moments we picked up on:

We get a look at Kristofer Hivju, who will be joining the third season as Tormund Giantsbane.

Someone appears to be burning in a boat bearing what looks to be the Lannister flag.

 Daenerys has a full army.

Someone's being tortured.

Daenerys' dragon is a lot larger in size.

SEE ALSO: Why Woody Allen never attends the Oscars >

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A shark fin glides ominously near unsuspecting holiday beach swimmers, a crescendo of musical peril rising – "DA da, DA da, DA da."

The glowing, spiky finger of a goggle-eyed alien points from a California suburban street into space.

While the craggy visage of America's stovepipe-hatted 16th president may not yet be as ingrained in American pop culture DNA as those iconic movie moments of the past 40 years, the celluloid depiction of Lincoln – which won the most Academy Award nominations this year with 12 – shares the distinction of being crafted by the same movie magician responsible for six of the 25 highest-grossing movies of all time.

SEE ALSO: Here's Everything That's Inside The $48,000 Oscar Swag Bag

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On Friday night, Mrs. Obama joined Mr. Fallon – both were dressed as suburban moms – for a dance routine called the “Evolution of Mom Dancing” – a take-off on Judson Laipply’s wildly popular video “Evolution of Dance” (more than 200 million views so far).

Steps included "Go Shopping, Get Groceries", "Driving the Station Wagon”, "Oh My God, I Love This Song", and “Where’s Your Father (Get Him Back Here).”

Michelle Obama: 10 quotes on her birthday

Social media and the blogosphere went nuts. “The first lady demonstrated an uncanny ability to make the lamest dance moves look cool,” wrote Daniel Politi on Slate.

One tries to imagine Mamie Eisenhower or Pat Nixon doing "The Sprinkler." Bette Ford or Hillary Clinton (before she became a US Senator and Secretary of State) maybe, but probably not either of the Bush first ladies.

Fallon suggested a Michelle-Hillary ticket for president in 2016. But the first lady said she had her eye on another post-White House job. “I hear that when Jay Leno retires that 'The Tonight Show' position is going to open and I'm thinking about putting my hat in the ring," she joked.

The President’s dancing skills inevitably came up.

"How about Barack, is he a good dancer?" Fallon asked.

"You know, I give him a B," Mrs. Obama said, tactfully. "His dancing is right here in the pocket. He's got like three good moves. But they're all right here," she said while dancing with her hands by her hips. 

Dancing with Fallon is part of an effort to promote Mrs. Obama’s "Let's Move" anti-childhood obesity campaign, which marked its third anniversary this month.

Besides the appearance on "Late Night," Mrs. Obama discussed the initiative while in New York City during segments taped for broadcast Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America" and Thursday on "The Dr. Oz Show," the Associated Press reports. Next Wednesday, Mrs. Obama embarks on a two-day promotional tour, with stops in Clinton, Miss.; Chicago; and Springfield, Mo.

For the second anniversary of "Let's Move," she and Fallon turned the East Room of the White House into a playground. They did pushups, twirled hula hoops, and competed at dodge ball and tug-of-war before the first lady triumphed over the comedian in a climactic potato sack race.

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A shark fin glides ominously near unsuspecting holiday beach swimmers, a crescendo of musical peril rising – "DA da, DA da, DA da."

The glowing, spiky finger of a goggle-eyed alien points from a California suburban street into space.

While the craggy visage of America's stovepipe-hatted 16th president may not yet be as ingrained in American pop culture DNA as those iconic movie moments of the past 40 years, the celluloid depiction of Lincoln – which won the most Academy Award nominations this year with 12 – shares the distinction of being crafted by the same movie magician responsible for six of the 25 highest-grossing movies of all time.

SEE ALSO: Here's Everything That's Inside The $48,000 Oscar Swag Bag

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Staples-owned Quills.com has been making Dunder Mifflin paper (inspired by the workplace on NBC's "The Office") since 2011, and it wanted to run an ad for the brand during the Oscars in Scranton, PA. Scranton is, after all, where "The Office" takes place.

The only problem: the local ABC-affiliate in Scranton refused to let the ad play during the broadcast.

According to a statement, the ad was rejected "apparently because of the brand’s NBC ties. (The CBS affiliate in Scranton had no issues with another Dunder Mifflin ad running during the Super Bowl.)"

The ad will now only air during the Academy Award broadcast in Utica, NY, the hometown of one of Dunder Mifflin's rivals in "The Office."

Watch the spot below: 

The ad was made by Texas-based Snap Brothers Productions via Tongal's crowd sourcing platform. It was picked by a panel of executives from Quill.com, NBCUniversal, and executive producers from "The Office."

Quill did something similar for the Super Bowl when it only aired a Dunder Mifflin ad in Scranton. The idea for the spot was also crowdsourced. The spot, called "Paper War," was viewed nearly one million times online and received 300 media impressions.

Here's the Super Bowl commercial:

Dunder Mifflin's marketing strategy emulates that of Old Milwaukee beer.

For years, Will Ferrell has made bizarre ads for Old Milwaukee that have only played in small markets during the Super Bowl. While a lot of people might not see an Old Milwaukee ad air in North Platte, Nebraska, the commercials always become viral successes.

SEE ALSO: Green Day Is Buying Ad Space On Japanese Girls' Tattooed Thighs

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Right on the heels of the Lohan family's brush with foreclosure,  a former KISS rocker is the latest celebrity in mortgage trouble.

Ace Frehley (nee Paul), who played guitar for KISS throughout the 70s and rejoined the band on tour in the late 90s, is on the hook for $735,000 worth of missed mortgage payments on his Yorktown, N.Y. home, the The Journal News reports.

The news surfaced after his bank, U.S. Bank National Association, filed a foreclosure claim on feb. 15. 

And the mortgage issue is just the beginning. 

Frehley has neglected nearly two years' worth of unpaid property taxes, according to the Journal News. That includes a "2011 lien of $5,131.61 for town and county taxes, as well as $13,425.94 for unpaid 2012 county, school and town taxes."

If Frehley can't come up with the cash, chances are the bank (or the county) will wind up selling the home at auction. And from what little information we have on his case, we're willing to bet that's exactly what Frehley wants. 

Frehley reportedly stopped paying on the home two years ago, just a few years after he took over the title on the 3-acre, 2,441 sq. ft. pad back in 2006.  Many underwater homeowners –– those who owe more on their homes than they are actually worth –– choose to cut their losses, stop making mortgage payments and simply wait for their mortgage lender to foreclose.

In the meantime, they can start putting their resources into a smaller home or apartment they can afford. 

The foreclosure process can take anywhere from under a year to more than two years to complete, so it makes sense we're only hearing of Frehley's foreclosure notice now. 

SEE ALSO: How to strategically default on your home and live scott-free for years >

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This year's Academy Awards nominees weren't always red carpet stars.

Before they were chasing Oscar gold, Naomi Watts starred in '80s commercials, Bradley Cooper appeared on a hit HBO series, and Christoph Waltz strongly resembled Ryan Gosling while starring in German television shows and films.

From "Law and Order" to "Fruit of the Looms" commercials, see where this year's top stars in Hollywood started out.

Before Bradley Cooper was playing a mental outpatient in "Silver Linings Playbook" ...

... his first role was on a season 2 episode of "Sex in the City" at 24.

Before Jessica Chastain was hunting down Osama bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty" ...

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During the aftermath of yesterday's scary NASCAR crash, a video emerged on Youtube taken mere feet away from where one of the car's tires landed in the grandstand. It was an amazing, fan shot video of what happened. And then Youtube and NASCAR pulled it on copyright grounds.

That video was taken down yesterday. The reaction on Twitter was one of mostly confusion. There were questions over how NASCAR could possibly claim ownership over a fan's video of the race. The video was pulled on Youtube, but not before Deadspin was able to steal a copy and host one natively on its own site. 

A provision in NASCAR's legal fine print on any ticket says they own the rights to any video, sounds or data related to a race. The question became, eventually, whether or not that legal fine print extended to a fan video. Observers criticized NASCAR for taking the video down in the middle of a news story that was still unfolding. The Verge argues some saw the removal as a violation of the Digital Digital Millenium Copyright Act, which is used to combat online piracy. This was not piracy. It was a homemade video. This was news. It was the best view of what the crash looked like from the stands available at the time.

This was NASCAR's official statement defending taking down the video:

The fan video of the wreck on the final lap of today's NASCAR Nationwide Series race was blocked on YouTube out of respect for those injured in today's accident. Information on the status of those fans was unclear and the decision was made to err on the side of caution with this very serious incident.

You can't really fault NASCAR for erring on the side of caution when it comes to fans' injuries. Over 20 people were injured in the crash, some seriously. At the time the video was taken down, two people were still in critical condition. They're in stable condition now. If anything had happened to them, the video could have taken a darker meaning than intended. But on the other hand, the defense doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The only video of the crash on Youtube, and the one we used in our post on the crash, was one uploaded by the official NASCAR account. 

So they were okay with videos of the incident being available so long as it was was on their terms. Eventually Youtube sided with the critics, though, and restored the video: 

Our partners and users do not have the right to take down videos from YouTube unless they contain content which is copyright infringing, which is why we have reinstated the videos.

Whether or not this case will be used as a precedent setter for the future remains to be seen. For now, questions are drifting towards whether or not they should be running the Daytona 500 on Sunday after what happened. Organizers claim the safety fence has been restored and the track is perfectly race worthy. But some fans are still cautious, and so NASCAR has agreed to move anyone if they don't feel comfortable in their seat.

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After five months away from "Good Morning America," Robin Roberts is working her first event at the Oscar red carpet tonight.

The morning co-anchor underwent a bone marrow transplant last September for myelodysplastic syndrome and returned on air this past week.

You wouldn't be able to tell tonight. She looks gorgeous.

SEE ALSO: Get reacquainted with all of this year's nominees before the show begins >

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Forget historical trends.

"Argo" just won Best Picture.

Despite getting snubbed for Best Director, Ben Affleck's CIA operative took home the most coveted award of the night.

The film swept awards season taking home the Best Picture awards at the BAFTA and Golden Globes. 

With this award, the film becomes the fourth to win Best Picture without its director being nominated.

SEE ALSO: Daniel Day-Lewis wins his third Best Actor Oscar >

SEE ALSO: Jennifer Lawrence wins her first Best Actress Oscar >

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Grey Poupon made a big bet on the Oscars last night: It got ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky to air the "lost" footage from the end of its classic 1980s ad, which shows what happened after the two posh English men in Rolls Royces share the mustard.

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