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It’s no Taylor Lautner story, but I’m told by 20th Century Fox sources that its Avatar will likely be the #2 movie of all time as soon as tonight. Its grosses, helped by higher 3D ticket prices, are overtaking 2D Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King ($1,119,110,941), but is still behind #1, James Cameron’s earlier 2D epic Titanic ($1,842,879,955). Its new domestic total, including Wednesday’s grosses, is $374,436,685. And it’s taken only 20 days! I’ll have Avatar‘s latest worldwide gross in the morning.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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I’m a brit – I saw it in 3d in the UK and (like 99% of the planet) was blown away by the visual extravagance and sheer scale of the movie. I was also impressed that, given the current political scene, Cameron had the guts to carry out such a negative portrayal of American military might.
Um, hello? Since when has it required “guts” to portray the US military in a negative light? Portraying it in a *positive* light would be the really gutsy move. But also politically incorrect. Cameron, like everyone else in Hollywood, prefers to play it safe.
Liz, you’re the deluded one living in a bubble.
Travel a bit. Only in the US is the US military/mercenary seen in a favourable way. Dissenting views in US are shouted down by folks like you, but truth will prevail.
This portrayal is a factor why overseas grosses are so huge for Avatar. It’s a reason why Avatar is great.
Only their butt-boy Michael Bay would be allowed to make war movies if the Pentagon had its way.
Um, ever seen G. I. Joe, or Transformers 2. Two crap blockbusters portraying the military in a positive light. I wouldn’t call it gutsy, so much as highly commendable that someone is exposing the American Military as the bad guys they are, on such a large scale.
Thank you James Cameron. The American right wing are true F*ck ups.
I’m not so sure this was the intent; the RDA security forces weren’t registered military, but rather private mercenaries (who are usually depicted as psychopathic nutballs in films to begin with). I think Avatar has more to say about real-world mercenary groups like Blackwater and the the misuse of weapons technology rather than singling out any particular standing military, but that’s just my perspective.
You never saw Saving Private Ryan?
What!?! WE WERE SOLDIERS, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, TEARS OF THE SUN, American military is always portrayed positively now. And it’s no accident. We’ve come a long way since PLATOON and CASUALTIES OF WAR.
Most people found AVATAR a very entertaining movie. I sure did. And the only thing stronger than the marketing has been the word of mouth. Obviously there was some cheese and contrivity, but it was the most unbelievable spectacle I’ve ever seen, and a great time at the movies. For most of us, it was enough. But whatever, to each his own.
They were mercenaries employed by a megacorporation, not US soldiers. And, as such, were cast in far too positive a light if anything.
Technically he wasn’t portraying the American Military, he was portraying ex-military working for big business.
I was very excited to see this movie. I even bought popcorn and a drink with some Malteasers.
Overall it was a good movie. I enjoyed it, I wasnt bored. It had some very cool moments, (the 3D wasnt necessary in my opinion, 2D would have been just fine. )
Obviously the CGI is very crisp and I liked the creature designs. Didnt like the mechs so much, they seemed outdated or unoriginal…
But it didnt live up to the hype. I left there with a hollow feeling like, “Well, ok, that was that. I guess”
I wasnt “blown away”. I was expecting Avatar to really knock me out but instead it just kind of sparred with me a little bit then said, Ok , its time to go home.
District 9 was way better.
I have to agree with you. Yes, the effects were amazing, but somehow I was still a little disappointed.
But that hasn’t stopped me and my girlfriend from trying and failing 3 times to see it on IMAX…Hahaha Always sold out!
Oh, yes, District 9 was better. I’m still holding on to the slim hope that District 9 will get nominated now that Oscar has 10 Best Picture nominations this year.
Maybe with the low box office returns and surprisingly low critic’s reviews, Nine will not get nominated.
So to get back to the original topic, I was following this movie way back when it was in nobodies radar and at time I felt like the only one that really liked the trailers. yea I said that. They were the ultimate teasers and Im soo glad they were because no one had any idea what they were in for. Kudos to Mr. Cameron for making a great movie. Off note I watched the Abyss last night. Crazy that its 20 plus years old and still rocks (the full 3 hour version I mean).
Threesheds, I’m in Canada and totally agree, no need to say more about all this bla bla bla. Visual extravagance and guts to depict americans as bad boys. Wonderful movie making
I’m I the only one out there who hasn’t seen this flick yet? Having a hard time getting motivated. I’m afraid I’ll walk out blown away, and an hour later get depressed by a cliche’ plot and bad dialogue. Someone tell me I’m wrong.
No, I haven’t seen it. Not going to see it, for my own reasons.
Been so overhyped, oversold, over-reported that I just don’t want to spend any more time on it.
Hey, haven’t heard from you in a while helenofpeel!
It’s humorous how you’ve been reduced to just picking on the movie now instead of trying to convince everyone that it’s a failure.
To “Avatarless”, yes, the plot has been done before. It’s the old “good vs. evil” story with better special effects.
But how many movies a year do this anyway?
Walking out of the movie theater I was a little disappointed. But I still really enjoyed the movie.
Let’s face it, you will eventually see the movie, whether it’s in the theater or on DVD. But let me just say that the DVD experience won’t be close to what you will see on the big screen. I’m going to buy it on Blu-Ray when it comes out, and the truth is that I might be even a little more disappointed when I see it in that format.
But it’s all up to you. Yes, the plot is cliched and there are some scenes of dialogue that are bad (although not as bad as I thought it would be with what I heard before seeing the movie).
If you are all about the story and the plot of a movie, then don’t go see Avatar. If you want to see amazing effects, then you might want to see it in theaters.
I’m not going to tell you that you HAVE TO see the movie, because as far as I’m concerned, a sci-fi movie with better acting and story is out on DVD now, and that movie is “District 9″!
James Cameron is the Shakespeare of Cinema. His work will be copied for centuries to come. Everyone else is jealous. Pay homage to the man. The KING OF THE UNIVERSE!
Congrats to the people who worked on this film! It was such a well-executed, stunning and unforgettable film, full of visual wonders and exhilarating moments. I loved it.
AMount taken in aside, obviously its the inflated ticket sales and the general inflation. I think it’s sad that some people are calling this the new ‘Star Wars’. Star Wars was Star Wars. They called Matrix the new Star Wars 10 years ago and it wasn’t either. Sure, the economy is bad and the government is involved in a war of words with Iran, but it’s not the 70s and Cameron is not Lucas. Hell, Lucas isn’t even Lucas anymore. People want it so badly they label it that way.
Just saying.
Very funny that just 3 weeks ago analysts/critics/people were saying it’s gonna flop, it’d gross less than $200 million domestic and $500 million world wide. It will never surpass TDK let alone Titanic blah blah blah. And best of all, most people said the flop is due to the high 3D ticket prices that nobody will buy it.
Now that it’s a sure thing that TDK is going down and Titanic is in danger, a sudden change of tune about inflation, unfair comparison because of higher 3D prices blah blah blah…
What a bunch of ANALysts
So true!
Right from the start, people were picking this movie apart. Then once the movie started making money (and holding amazingly well during the weekdays leading up to Christmas weekend), they were still saying the movie won’t make more than $250 million.
Then when the movie only dropped 1.8% in it’s second weekend, they started making up numbers to fit their argument.
Now the “nay-sayers” are coming up with other “innovative” ways to show that, although Avatar is a huge success, it’s not the success that people think it is.
I have to say I don’t like your play on words with “ANALysts”, but it does remind me of something very funny from that great TV show “Arrested Development”. Tobias (David Cross’ character) talks in one scene about how he combined “analyst” and “therapist”. His business card that he created said that his title was “ANALRAPIST”! HAHAHAHA That show was one of the best!
I just wanna add a little tiny perspective on these big, bold $$$ we’re seeing reported over and over…
According to boxofficemojo.com, the box office leader for gross ticket sales adjusted for price inflation is:
1. Gone with the Wind at $1.48 Billion
2. Star Wars at $1.3 Billion
3. Sound of Music at $1.2 Billion
…
And #87 is Avatar at $381 Million
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
However, since adjusted price inflation records doesn’t seem available (nor easy to calculate) for Domestic and International ticket sales, all that is available is All Time Worldwide:
1. Titanic at $1.8 Billion
2. Avatar at $1.1 Billion
Either way, it appears that while Avatar is a hit domestically, it is NOT that big a hit domestically, compared to other movies. It has done as well as the JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek, and that is no mean feat.
But Internationally, the movie is a mega-hit and this seems to be driving its success. It’s the International numbers that are really pushing up this movies gross $$$.
Just food for thought. Either way it’s done really well.
…or one other dumb thought… could the International numbers be fudged? Just wondering… It would take longer to check them out and verify… Naw, just paranoia on my part…
“Could the international numbers be fudged?” you asked.
Ummm, yeah, I guess, in the sense that anything is possible. For that matter, the U.S. figures could be “fudged”, too. For that matter, the numbers for EVERY movie could be.
….But it’s insulting to make accusations of fraud and deceit (and indeed it would be fraud, as News Corp. the film’s financiers’ investors would be defrauding their own investors) when there is zero evidence of it whatsoever (and, I think, zero provocation to even think so).
The two big “nay-sayers” squaring off! Hahaha
Now we just need to get Whiskey involved! LOL
@Avatarless: You’re wrong. Your depressing yourself more with your anticipation of being depressed than you ever will be by the movie. It’s an excirting, visually stunning fantasy adventure like Seventh Voyage of Sinbad or Jason and the Argonauts, but with better effects, acting, editing and pacing. People are taking the ‘story’ problems way too seriously.
I’m in South Africa and Avatar has been shown in 80% of the country in 3D, so its safe to say that people should check their facts. I went to see the movie for the amazing visual effects but left feeling that the ticket price was worth it because of the strong storyline. Kudo’s to James Cameron, however arrogant he may be
Also, all IMA 3D shows are sold out at my local theatre (in Toronto) including modweek shows at 12 Noon, 3:30 PM etc and lines form an hour before opening. This movie has lots of legs left and will top $2bn in takings.
The story line for the movie sucked royally!!! It has been done before, nothing new, however, visually this was the best I have ever seen. Word of mouth is going to push this movie to Titanic levels.
All this arguing over whether or not Avatar is worth the money it made is getting really old.
People have different opinions on different movies. Some connect with one more, while others do not. These arguments you guys are having are merely just opinions being spat at eachother. You aren’t going to get someone to change their opinion through argument.
And to all the number pushers on here: If you are going to state numbers and statistics as fact, make sure you have the ENTIRE picture when you do. If you are simply stating that Avatar is amazing because it’s number two on the highest grossing list, you are being pretty dumb. There are dozens – if not hundreds – of factors that make the situation surrounding each movie different from one another. I may not go so far as to say you are comparing apples to oranges, but you’re getting pretty close.
Let’s see some examples when you play the numbers game:
By looking at the unadjusted highest grossing list, you are merely seeing the total money earned. But due to inflation over time (and now 3D surcharges), the cost per ticket has gone up over the years. So what happens then is a list of adjusted grossing is created, but even that is not 100% accurate. People argue that higher ticket costs will make more people shy away from theaters than in the past, thus making it harder for newer movies to sell more tickets. They may lay this same theory on 3D surcharges as well. But then others bring up that the hype surrounding 3D may actually draw more people in, since that is an experience one will not have by waiting for the DVD/Bluray release. In the end, we will never know for sure unless the entire world population was surveyed one person at a time. Personally, I find the list of movies ranked by number of tickets sold to be most accurate – but it still has it’s flaws. Films in the early decades may have had a larger draw into theaters since movies were not really distributed into homes, so most times it was the only chance people had to see it. Essentially, one can continue peeling back layers – and while getting more accurate each time – will never be able to reach a 100% accurate answer. What about looking at the economic situation at the time of each films release? Or how many theaters were available to show each movie in? I can go on and on forever.
In the end, while numbers can give one an idea, they are shown with some very large assumptions hidden in the background. I find it best just to rely on personal opinion and respect that others may have differing opinions of their own.
In case you all are wondering, I found Avatar to be very enjoyable. So much to the point that I saw the film twice. However, does this mean I liked it more than, say “Return of the King”? Hell no! Who cares if Avatar grossed higher than RotK? I have my own ranking of movies in my mind, and that is the only one important to me.
I know this will fall on deaf ears, but you guys need to just relax and stop bashing eachother’s opinions. It won’t change anything. Did I enjoy Avatar? Yes. Did I find it’s story revolutionary? No. But who cares?
Great comment!
Yes, all we can go by is how much money Avatar is making now. Everyone knows no movie will ever have the same attendance Gone With The Wind had. That was 70 years ago. There was no TV…No home entertainment systems…No internet. There is simply no comparing it to movies today or even movies 20 years from now. No movie will ever come close to selling the estimated 200 million tickets Gone With The Wind sold.
In fact, taking inflation into account, Avatar won’t even come close to Titanic’s number (which would be over $900 million domestically with today’s prices).
People on here keep assuming that I love Avatar because I talk so “highly” about its box office performance. All I’m doing is just looking at the box office and the trends and analysing that.
Hey, I was even wrong with my initial analysis of the numbers. After the first 7 days in theaters, I predicted that Avatar would end up with around $410 million domestically and $1.25-$1.3 billion worldwide…I did, however, state that the movie could do better if word of mouth was even better than I expected. But back when I predicted that, a lot of people still thought Avatar would only make $250 million domestically…hahaha
“District 9″, I believe, is a much better movie overall. Avatar probably wouldn’t even make it into my Top 100 list of all time.
My favorite movies are movies like The Godfather and The Godfather Part 2 (the two best movies of all time)…The Empire Strikes Back…Pulp Fiction…Sixth Sense…Unforgiven…Boogie Nights…And foreign movies like City Of God and Seven Samurai. (Damn, am I opening myself up for criticism now, or what! hahaha But that’s what I believe). Oh, and also Memento, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind…Shawshank Redemption! I haven’t ever really come up with a Top 10 list. There might be some that I’m not remembering now. All I know is that Avatar wouldn’t come even close to my top movies of all time!
What do my favorite movies have in common with Avatar? Pretty much nothing. I guess The Empire Strikes Back has the sci-fi story and special effects, but the plot is far superior than that of Avatar. What are the things that my top 10 has in common with each other? Well, for the most part, great scripts, great story, great characters, great dialogue, and the occassional nice little twist (or one hell of a twist like Sixth Sense and The Empire Strikes Back).
So, I don’t LOVE Avatar. Just as you stated “Magic815″, I enjoyed it. I have only seen it once, but want to see it on IMAX too. I might even go for a third time before it leaves theaters, because I know Blu-Ray will do it no justice at all.
Oh, and by the way, I know I’m not going to change somebody’s opinion by arguing. But I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy it…Hahaha…Although, I don’t think of it as arguing. It’s more of debating than arguing. I’ve had people swear at me and stuff like that, but that’s just all part of the “debating”…It’s a good time for all!
Anyway, I should know better than to name my favorite movies. Let the negative comments commence…Or should I say, let the debating begin…LOL
This was definately the greatest movie I have ever seen. I highly reccommend seeing it in 3D. I have seen it 4 times already and I plan on going back. It isn’t just the animations that are fantastic, but the story line is amazing also. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone..SO GO SEE IT!!
It is quite frankly disgusting that such an awful film is making so much money. The possibility that the record set by this film might live forever is horrifying. At least Titanic had a smidgen of dignity and didn’t hammer us over the head with its message.
For the guy in California who called everyone else idiots because his imax is only $1 more and 3d is the same cost…thats because you live in California…ticket prices are already ridiculously high like everything else because you live in little-Russia…you know, the state that controls every move its citizens make with an iron fist?
For most of the country, the ticket price hikes are significant…3d can be as much as 3 or 4 bucks more than a regular ticket where the studios can get away with it…which can be significantly more than a 30% increase…balancing out those areas where it might not be as high as 30%.
Revenue comparisons do not in any real way rate a film’s popularity…as prices go up, of course newer films will bring in more money. This of course might make that film more important to the studio, but since all prices are increasing, everything balances out. Ok, so Gone With the Wind didn’t GROSS as much as Avatar…but it didn’t gross as much as Meet the Morgans either…and I guarantee you no comparison of their relative popularity would be made at the studio level.
Ticket sales on the other hand tell the entire story…as prices go up, people are theoretically making more money as well…and will be just as likely to go to the movies despite higher ticket costs. The popularity of moviegoing has declined of course, but the number of people having access to movies has increased…so the two probably cancel out pretty well. If raw ticket sales still aren’t good enough for you, you could instead analyze a film’s percentage of the total tickets sold for a period of time…but even that relys just as much on what else was playing opposite the film.
Bottom Line…the whole argument is pointless…is Avatar doing extremely well? Sure…does that mean it is the greatest movie ever? Certainly not…its been extremely well hyped…look at Titanic.
How many folks would list Titanic as one of the best ten films ever made? My guess is not too many…but it is the #1 grosser of all time? Why? Excellent marketing around a good…but not amazing…product.
Avatar is a decent movie with the greatest visuals of all time. It shouldn’t even be called a movie though, maybe a ride or some new word that doesn’t exist yet.
A couple of years from now few will remember even watching the other movies from 2009. Decades from now few will have forgotten this monumental movie and how they felt when they first laid eyes on it.
It was an experience that dosent come around often, especially in movies, and that is a first with a good impression. It will be remembered fondly as star wars was in 77. An innovation in movies, a new direction, and a fantastic experience.
as if the plot of district 9 wasn’t cliche and predictable? lol at least avatar gets its message across clearly from start to finish…district 9 completely falls apart, forgetting, or choosing to drop, its entire message, by the third act…
I am german, so please excuse my awful english. The word one of you was asking for in my opinion is “fantorgasmic”.
Thank you, Jim. You (and all involved people) created a great peace of art, adventure, spirituality, love AND commercial success. This movie gave ME all and much more I expected from what a movie should do. It´s just a phenomenal experience.
I saw it first on the wednesday preview December, 16th last year. And like with all alltime B.O. movies (starting 1977 with Star Wars) I knew it will become No 1 (after 3rd week of February – so within 63 days, I guess). I “forecasted” when it will overrun TDK and that it will be No. 2 WW last wednesday. It did.
I read so many stupid comments and critics about the movies “story” – and I can not understand what people where talking about. What story is more more true and important then that ravenousness uses any given power to destroy all values?
That THIS story was already told is true. It can not be told often enough. Anyway – the way Camerons “Avatar” tells it is just brilliant. I rarely watched so many visitors leaving the cinemas (saw it already twice and will have my next ride on tuesday – 3D this time) so quiet and reflective …
… where the hell do some of you oversea guys live? Over 70% of sales here in germany are done in 3D …
– at 20$ a medial ticket in 3D (including glasses, one has to rent) next to 10-15$ for the (imo not less amazing) 2D-Version.
Have a great day.
Ralph
yyy… Too hecoideology in that movie. It was nice to watch though the story was not good and it was too long.
1. Just because a story has been done before, this does not make it “terrible”, nor “bad”, nor even “so-so”. So what if Dances With Wolves, Fern Gully, any number of other movies / real life situations tell basically the same mythological arc? A good story remains a good story for as long as it can bear it’s message, and given the current world we live in, the story of Avatar is one that millions have clearly STILL NOT LEARNED FROM.
2. To those who state that they “cannot bring themselves to see Avatar”, etc, GET OVER YOURSELVES. You wanted the movie to fail, you wanted the movie to suck (who knows why), but the facts are that THE MOVIE IS FANTASTIC and is making more money than any movie ever. You don’t have to see it if you want to live in your goddamn Notes From Underground cloud of self-delusion and spite, but please don’t go around filling other’s appreciation for Mr. Cameron’s work with your unbearable bile.
3. There were a number of bad points in the script. “Eyes for Jujubees”, “Stone cold aerial hunter”, and “unobtanium” stand out. But these points were minor, and the script and plot on the whole elicited any number of diverse emotional responses from both myself, my friends, and the rest of the theater. I felt genuine involvement and care for characters like Grace, Ney’tiri, Moat, and Jake. I’ve seen movies that are ALL EFFECTS… Transformers 2, G.I. Joe, 2012… and while Avatar’s effects are massive, Avatar is in a class all it’s own in terms of story, thoughtfulness, quality, and characters when compared to these other blockbusters.
I couldn’t agree more…