The box office dominance of Avatar

[M'rk son of Mogh]

True. But was Avatar as heavily merchandised as Star Wars or Avengers? I honestly don't believe so, but could be wrong.

I don’t even remember many tie-ins for Avatar, it seemed to pretty much stand on its own.

 

[Grendelsbayne]

Avatar was a unique experience at a unique moment in time. It wasn't just selling a movie and the thing it was selling was something you couldn't get at any other movie and you couldn't get by waiting to watch Avatar at home. That's why it had the legs it had, built the massive record it built and was an altogether unique chapter in Hollywood history. And that moment cannot be recaptured in the same way again, not by any franchise including the Avatar sequels.

If the Avatar sequels actually want to improve that record, they'll have to do it the 'traditional' way with a massively hyped, front-loaded release that is hopefully also entertaining enough to have solid legs even though they won't go anywhere as far as the original's legs did. But doing that requires some kind of devoted core following which the franchise really does not seem to have these days.

Avatar 2 could be anything from a total flop (waited too long) to a smash hit (Cameron strikes again and recaptures the imagination of the general audience), but even in the best case scenario it will have to be Avatar 3 which goes for the record after Avatar 2 has put in the work necessary to reinvigorate the franchise.

 

[JD]

True. But was Avatar as heavily merchandised as Star Wars or Avengers? I honestly don't believe so, but could be wrong.

I don’t even remember many tie-ins for Avatar, it seemed to pretty much stand on its own.

That's actually kind of my point. It amazes me that the #1 movie of all time wasn't merchandised more.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

That's actually kind of my point. It amazes me that the #1 movie of all time wasn't merchandised more.

Maybe Cameron simply didn't want that.
Titanic wasn't either as I recall.

 

[crookeddy]

BTW it is possible for Avatar 2 to be so technically advanced that people will just have to see it in the theater - it is trying to bring HFR back after all.

I wonder if the delay was partially to allow people to forget how much they hated HFR in the Hobbit.

 

[crookeddy]

https://www.cnet.com/news/remembering-avatar-and-the-collective-fever-dream-of-its-insane-success/

This article comes off as unnecessarily abrasive, I wonder what pissed this writer off so much.

Now Avatar is like a Furby or a Tamagotchi. It's a warning. A permanent reminder that humanity, as a species, has the potential to go completely and collectively insane.

That's the conclusion...

 

[JD]

Yikes.

 

[Booji]

That's actually kind of my point. It amazes me that the #1 movie of all time wasn't merchandised more.

It made a fuck ton of money, but in the end, it was just a movie.... it just happened to smash records. Maybe I was too busy with more important stuff at the time, but I have no recollection whatsoever of anyone in the USA giving two shits about that movie. It reminds me of Santana's track 'Smooth'. A massive success and made a metric buttload of $, but had zero cultural impact or historical and/or artistic legacy. Quite simply, forgettable garbage.

 

[crookeddy]

It made a fuck ton of money, but in the end, it was just a movie.... it just happened to smash records. Maybe I was too busy with more important stuff at the time, but I have no recollection whatsoever of anyone in the USA giving two shits about that movie. It reminds me of Santana's track 'Smooth'. A massive success and made a metric buttload of $, but had zero cultural impact or historical and/or artistic legacy. Quite simply, forgettable garbage.

I remember the opposite. EVERYONE was talking about Avatar. Many of them were talking about how it actually wasn't a great movie, many were saying that 3D is overrated, but everyone watched it and everyone was talking about it. And when reports came out about those people who were depressed because Pandora is not real... everyone seemed to know enough people who liked the movie for those stories to be believable.

 

[crookeddy]

Avatar also has startling similarities with Titanic... A low(ish) first weekend had many news outlets declaring both flops, critics seemed to like, but not love both movies, and both movies ended up with impossibly strong legs, completely unheard of in this modern era of cinema. Perhaps Cameron knows something about the human psyche to get this kind of response to his movies.

Or perhaps he got lucky. Twice.

 

[Booji]

I remember the opposite. EVERYONE was talking about Avatar. Many of them were talking about how it actually wasn't a great movie, many were saying that 3D is overrated, but everyone watched it and everyone was talking about it. And when reports came out about those people who were depressed because Pandora is not real... everyone seemed to know enough people who liked the movie for those stories to be believable.

It's weird. Only people I know who saw it were video game geeks... because it looked like a lame video game. In my neck of the woods, movies like LOTR gained waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more attention for FX, story, and overall appeal. I guess we have more taste around here.

 

[crookeddy]

It's weird. Only people I know who saw it were video game geeks... because it looked like a lame video game. In my neck of the woods, movies like LOTR gained waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more attention for FX, story, and overall appeal. I guess we have more taste around here.

Nobody I know watched LOTR, but my friend circle and career changed between their releases so that could explain some of it.

Anyway, Avatar was watched in theaters by the types of people who only watch one movie in theaters a year. That was the big achievement of it's marketing. I don't think many people saw it multiple times (like titanic) but almost everyone saw it.

 

[gblews]

The depression thing was fake news, almost certainly.

Now, who else have I heard refer to news he doesn't agree with as "fake"? Who was that?

You realize that just because you think it's "fake news, that does not make it so, correct?

As for the realism, I strongly disagree. To me, the movie reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon with good graphics.

To each his own, most of the stuff I read about the movie talked a lot about people getting hooked by the movies' realism. This is what spawned the depression in some folks about Pandora not being real. People don't get upset about an imaginary world created by a movie not being real if they don't find the movie realistic. But oh, that's right, you think that's fake news.

The only character I liked and admired was the "evil" colonel or whatever he was.

This, I think, relates to my initial response to your 'fake news' comment.

 

[Reyman]

Avatar 2's release on a Friday will probably result in the following headline come the following Monday:

"Yet another sequel VASTLY underperfroms at the box office...was 13 years too long between films?...yes, probably..."

Didn't hurt The Incredibles. Franchises like Toy Story and Jurassic Park had several years between movies and they did pretty well.

 

[Professor Zoom]

Didn't hurt The Incredibles. Franchises like Toy Story and Jurassic Park had several years between movies and they did pretty well.

Jurassic Park had more than one movie, and The Incredibles is a part of the Pixar brand. I feel like that helped both of those movies.

I'm curious how Avatar 2 will do when, if ever, it comes out. It hasn't really been apart of the pop culture conversation for so long. Except for conversations like these.

Personally, I'm 'meh' on the franchise. The technical aspects of the film are astounding, still the most immersive 3D movie I have ever seen. But, the characters? Meh. I barely remember them. Terminator it is not. A2 really isn't something I'm excited about.

Now... Bill and Ted....

 

[Tosk]

It'll be kind of funny when Cameron somehow proves the naysayers wrong yet again and Avatar 2 does extremely well. I'm sure there will be plenty of caveats thrown around as to why it doesn't count or why it should have done even better.

 

[Marsden]

Or, next week, apparently.

Avengers: Endgame Officially Getting Re-Released With New Footage



Is it a re-release, if it never went out of theaters in the first place?!

It's out of the theaters around me, and I didn't get to see it yet. I'm happy it's coming back. I thought it was strange a movie still in the top ten was out, maybe they pulled it to do this?

 

[Reyman]

Jurassic Park had more than one movie, and The Incredibles is a part of the Pixar brand. I feel like that helped both of those movies.

I'm curious how Avatar 2 will do when, if ever, it comes out. It hasn't really been apart of the pop culture conversation for so long. Except for conversations like these.

Personally, I'm 'meh' on the franchise. The technical aspects of the film are astounding, still the most immersive 3D movie I have ever seen. But, the characters? Meh. I barely remember them. Terminator it is not. A2 really isn't something I'm excited about.

Now... Bill and Ted....

What I think helps franchises like Jurassic Park/World and Toy Story is that the movies take place in a world within a world. This gives sequels more room to manoeuvre. Avatar can potentially benefit from this too.

Avatar also did very well in the DVD market too, so something other than just the 3D effects must have appealed to the masses.

 

[crookeddy]

Don't forget that avatar 2 will be a tech demo again, this time for Cameron's high frame rate camera, which he claims achieves an effect similar to looking out the window.

His movies are always marketed brilliantly. It'll be a hit, but nowhere near the levels of the original.

 

[Professor Zoom]

What I think helps franchises like Jurassic Park/World and Toy Story is that the movies take place in a world within a world. This gives sequels more room to manoeuvre. Avatar can potentially benefit from this too.

I didn't think we were discussing whether or not there's more stories to tell in Avatar's world--which, sure, there is--but rather if people will turn out for them.

I'm sure they will spend their money wisely on advertisement and behind the scenes stuff reminding people about the first Avatar. Hopefully, for them, they will recapture the excitement and moment of the first one.

Avatar also did very well in the DVD market too, so something other than just the 3D effects must have appealed to the masses.

True