Georges originally had intended for his film to eventually be played in America, which would have surely made him rich beyond his wildest dreams, but Thomas Edison aired to the film before Georges, thus Georges didn't receive a dime for the American airing.
How can this be possible? When A Trip to the Moon aired in a small theater in London, Thomas Edison sent a small group of men to bribe the owner of the cinema to giving them a copy of the film, so that they could distribute it in America - and Edison made a fortune. None of it went to Melies, and he eventually became bankrupt!
