The box office dominance of Avatar

[Infern0]

With "endgame" now running on fumes it seems likely Avatar will retain its spot as #1 all time grossing movie.

What was it about that movie that put it in such an unconquerable position?

I saw it in theatres and loved it at the time, mostly due to how immersive the 3D was.

But the movie has not help up over time, she Saldana has gone on to have a great career but Sam.... I forget his surname, who was supposed to be the next big thing I don't remember seeing much of.

But yeah, what was it about avatar? Why did it vacuum up money the way it did?

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Because it was a novelty. The first movie to have decent 3D technology, unparalleled by most mainstream movies till this day.
People went to experience that more than they cared about the movie itself, I suspect.

It ran in cinema for ages.
I‘m pretty sure a lot of theaters upgraded their technology for 3D because of this movie and squeezed out every cent they could to make it worth the investment.

Also the movie had star power in the shape of Cameron, director of Titanic.
Excellent marketing, possibly even way after release?

This is all just hypothesizing, so don’t quote me on this,

 

[JirinPanthosa]

First thing, tickets being more expensive when it came out than all the past even more popular blockbusters.

It's one of the first movies with really high tech visuals to effectively use modern 3d that doesn't look like flat plates standing at different depths.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

First thing, tickets being more expensive when it came out than all the past even more popular blockbusters.

It's one of the first movies with really high tech visuals to effectively use modern 3d that doesn't look like flat plates standing at different depths.

That doesn't explain how movies after that, with the same high ticket prices, couldn't catch up. Not even Endgame, which had the best shot.

I'm shocked it took DECADES for a movie to finally pass Titanic.

Cameron has a magic touch, for sure.

 

[Takeru]

That doesn't explain how movies after that, with the same high ticket prices, couldn't catch up. Not even Endgame, which had the best shot.

Endgame would have passed Avatar easily had it not been kicked out of chinese cinemas prematurely, it did monster numbers there.

 

[Tosk]

Avatar managed to become an "event film". It was excellently made, and told a generic enough story that the film itself was one that almost anyone could go see. Just like Titanic. And then to top it off, the novelty of the well-done 3D. I watched it again about six months ago (the longest cut) ...still quite like it. Cameron makes effective films, despite his tendency towards clunky dialogue at times.

Even if Endgame had beaten Avatar, it'd be no shame to be overtaken by the (for now) culmination of a decades-long mega franchise. And either way, Zoe Saldana gets to say she's in the top two box office films of all time.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

The thing about Avengers audiences, it’s got a huge audience, but also a huge amount of people who already decided they don’t like it.

So Avatar got ‘curious’ viewers and Endgame did not.

 

[Tosk]

Exactly. Superhero movies might be super popular, but they do have people who "Won't watch that crap." Franchise fatigue doesn't just affect the people who do watch the films.

Avatar (despite the done-before main thrust of the story) was really considered something new, something amazing, something you just had to see.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Endgame would have passed Avatar easily had it not been kicked out of chinese cinemas prematurely, it did monster numbers there.

You could just as easily argue that Avatar didn't need the Chinese market as much.

Anyway, Avatar got a bit of box office boost with the re-release with added scenes in the summer of 2010. Disney can choose to re-release Endgame in about half a year, and it'll overtake Avatar most likely. Then they can re-release Avatar to promote the sequels. The two movies being so close box office-wise actually really is in Disney's favor, as they can promote it as a kind of competition for the top spot playing the Marvel fans/Avatar haters and the Avatar fans/Marvel haters who are dumb enough to care which one's on top up against each other.

 

[Ethros]

Avatar came out in December 2009, and then I remember was rereleased around September 2010 with the slightly longer Directors Cut. Does that contribute to its total "all time box office"? Because then you could say it's not really fair compared to Endgame's only initial release

 

[Noname Given]

AVATAR:
1) It was a film wit a 'first' with its use of 3D CGI the way it did.
2) It didn't have a lot of competition at the start of its theatrical run.
3) In ran in theaters for 34 weeks (238 days) .

IDK but I think Avengers Endgame BO performance is somewhat impressive in that its racked up an incredible BO take that challenges Avatar's (even accounting for Inflation since Avatar's release) in (so far) 7 weeks (49 days) in release.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Endgame would have passed Avatar easily had it not been kicked out of chinese cinemas prematurely, it did monster numbers there.

Proving my point, there wasn't a Chinese market to take note of when Avatar came out (there being less than 12,000 theatres in the country then as opposed to the over 50,000 and growing now).

And Endgame and other movies still couldn't catch up with the current domination of Chinese box office to help.

 

[eschaton]

Avatar was in many ways the end of an era, insofar as it was the last adult-marketed blockbuster which wasn't based on an existing media franchise.

 

[Mudd]

Avatar holds up just fine, and it appealed to a great many more people around the world than are generally interested in fantasy movies of this kind.

That's pretty simple.

Of course, it also didn't have to compete with a massive dominant fantasy franchise that poops out multiple movies every year.

Avatar came out in December 2009, and then I remember was rereleased around September 2010 with the slightly longer Directors Cut. Does that contribute to its total "all time box office"? Because then you could say it's not really fair compared to Endgame's only initial release

People will always find reasons to cry "not fair!" on this subject, because the Superhero Orgy just...fell...short.

 

[Infern0]

Avatar holds up just fine, and it appealed to a great many more people around the world than are generally interested in fantasy movies of this kind.

That's pretty simple.

Of course, it also didn't have to compete with a massive dominant fantasy franchise that poops out multiple movies every year.



People will always find reasons to cry "not fair!" on this subject, because the Superhero Orgy just...fell...short.

Oooosh such language

Not a fan of the MCU then?

 

[Mudd]

Not a fan of the MCU then?

I like about a third of the movies I've seen, many of them on TV. I liked the first Iron Man, the third Thor movie (the first two blew chunks), GoTG sorta. I really like a couple.* For the most part, they're overblown, stupidly written and formulaic.

I'm not that interested in Marvel; I'm still rather interested in movies.

*The first Captain America movie and Black Panther.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I forget, was there any none 3D showing of Avatar? I do not think so. Any other films in 3D also have a standard 2D version at a cheaper price. The only way to see Avatar was in 3D at higher ticket prices.

There are other factors too but largely that was a novelty at a higher price. Look at actual number of tickets sold and it’s likely a different story.

 

[Masiral]

I forget, was there any none 3D showing of Avatar? I do not think so. Any other films in 3D also have a standard 2D version at a cheaper price. The only way to see Avatar was in 3D at higher ticket prices.

There are other factors but that. It was a novelty at a higher price. Look at actual number of tickets sold and it’s likely a different story.

There were definitely 2D showings of Avatar, because that's how I saw it in theaters. I do think that 3D showings made up a larger percentage of Avatar's box office than of Endgame's, mostly because the novelty of 3D has worn off.

I'd also be curious to see how Avatar's box office looked at this point in its original run - BoxOfficeMojo only has a comparison between Endgame and The Force Awakens.

 

[Dick Whitman]

if you are right, that shows how long ago it is. Now I would never see a movie in 3D if 2D was an option.

 

[Cyrus]

Avatar was a movie that just about every movie goer wanted to see. Titanic was kind of like that too. The Marvel movies are not at that level. I am a big scifi fan and used to love Marvel comics when I was a kid, I saw Avatar in movie theater but haven't seen a comic book movie in the last few years.