10 Blockbusters Made with the Help of Linux

Linux is not only the ideal operating system for small screen devices like netbooks, but also a pretty good choice for the big screen. Several of the top blockbusters of all time were created with the help of Linux software or render farms running Linux.

The most recent example being the soon-to-be most successful movie Avatar. The New Zealand-based visual effects company Weta Digital sits behind the stunning visual effects of Avatar as well as some other movies you may have heard of, including the The Lord of the Rings, The Day The Earth Stood Still, X-Men, I, Robot, and the 2005 King Kong remake.

According to Paul Gunn, Systems Administrator at Weta Digital, they have more than 4.000 HP blade servers with over 35.000 processors in their data center with all of Weta's rendering nodes and 90% of their desktops running Ubuntu.

As pictures can say more than words, let's have a look at some of the blockbusters made with the help of Linux. For more words see the references linked at the end of this article.

Avatar (2009)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

Shrek the Third (2007)

X-Men The Last Stand (2006)

King Kong (2005)

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

Gladiator (2000)

The Matrix (1999)

Titanic (1997)

References

• The Data-Crunching Powerhouse Behind Avatar
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Linux Helps Bring Titanic to Life
• The Power of the Incredible Hulk the ILM Linux Death Star
• Linux and Star Trek
• DreamWorks Animation Shrek the Third: Linux Feeds an Ogre
• Hollywood Loves Linux
• Linux in film production