James Cameron's "Avatar" Thread v.3

[FilmNerdJamie]

Not a single person complained about the footage? Dude, you know that's not true. It didn't even sell out. Tons of reports came out about half-empty screenings and what not. If free 15 minutes doesn't get people interested, what will a full priced 2 and a half movie do?

You know you're my bud. But come on, man.

 

[Figs]

I'm not going to begin to guess what this film will make Domestic and World Wide but I will say that the few people who are using the example of a very small amount of friends to gage the rest of the GA is ridiculous.

Yeah, you can use the audience's reaction after seeing the trailer but for every audience group you say didn't make a peep or were saying "that looks stupid", I have been with audiences that actually were very chatty after the trailer ended and didn't hear any groans or stupid comments.

I this film is definitely going to be a wildcard. I'm leaning towards the side that says it will make bank at the BO but I'm not sure if it will reach 1 billion WW.

 

[DorkyFresh]

The promotions for Avatar are falling 100% on Cameron's filmography of years past and the technology.

well that's not an exaggeration whatsoever! i mean, literally, all the trailers and tv spots just show Cameron's name, then list his films and tell the audience to go see Avatar without showing ANY footage!!!

They sold it off all that destruction and special effects.

half the trailers and tv spots have montages of the big Na'vi vs Human military battle that shows PLENTY of destruction! wanna guess how that footage was made? sure wasn't done practically!

This isn't hooking people.

funny cuz all but 2 or 3 people i've talked about this movie are either intrigued or excited about this film and i've talked to over 20 people at my job alone. those 2 or 3 people that i talked to who don't want to see this movie are always either skeptical or negative...so it's understandable why they wouldn't care to see it.

 

[dark_b]

Not a single person complained about the footage? Dude, you know that's not true. It didn't even sell out. Tons of reports came out about half-empty screenings and what not. If free 15 minutes doesn't get people interested, what will a full priced 2 and a half movie do?

You know you're my bud. But come on, man.

a lot of theaters were empty. and not just because the site crashed. a lot of people didnt care to drive in an Imax for 15 minutes of a movie without a trailer. but i dont remember any reports where someone said that he didnt like the 15 minutes.

 

[DorkyFresh]

not to mention...Avatar was largely unknown to the public at the time of the 15 min. preview. that event was mostly just to wow the people who ARE interested enough for them to start using word of mouth (one of the best forms of marketing).

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

Avatar Day wasn't exactly considered a success. It played to the already devoted. The hard-core Cameron fans. Nothing more, nothing less. Hence it played to half-empty screenings.

All the while, Sherlock Holmes is stealing its thunder from the general public.

 

[DorkyFresh]

Avatar Day wasn't exactly a considered a success. It played to the already devoted. The hard-core Cameron fans. Nothing more, nothing less. Hence it played to half-empty screenings.

i doubt they were expecting Avatar Day to sell out. it was pretty much meant for hardcore movie goers to get them hyped up enough to start spreading the word...and it looks to be working.

All the while, Sherlock Holmes is stealing its thunder from the general public.

i haven't been following Sherlock Holmes's progress but Avatar is getting plenty of publicity.

 

[Doctor Jones]

No doubt Holmes will steal away from Avatar the next week. But that all depends on word of mouth for Avatar. Opening weekend and word of mouth will be what will save or destroy it.

Opening weekend, I guess $60 - $70 million. The next week again, it depends on Holmes which I think will be the most popular film of this month.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

They didn't expect Avatar Day to have packed sell-outs? That's crap. Getting nerds excited about a new genre film doesn't translate to the general public. Plenty of examples of that. It back-fired.

 

[DorkyFresh]

They didn't expect Avatar Day to have packed sell-outs? That's crap.

well, if you can find a story that states they expected Avatar Day to 'sell out' theaters then i'll admit that it was a failure, but it had always seemed, to me, that they were doing that as a way of getting the word out. you can't expect a movie that only a small group of the audience knows about to 'sell out' theaters even if the tickets are free. after all, it was only a PREVIEW and not many people from the general audience are going to make time out of their day to see a PREVIEW in theaters. again...the whole reason for the Avatar Day wasn't to 'sell out' theater seats, it was to get the word out and get people excited so they were start telling THEIR friends...and their friends would start telling THEIR friends....and so on...

Getting nerds excited about a new genre film doesn't translate to the general public. Plenty of examples of that. It back-fired.

well first off...this isn't exactly a new genre. sci fi and fantasy have been around for a while. second, nerds got excited about TF2 and look how much money that made. that isn't exactly JUST the nerd population. it takes the general audience to bring in those kinds of numbers.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

well, if you can find a story that states they expected Avatar Day to 'sell out' theaters then i'll admit that it was a failure, but it had always seemed, to me, that they were doing that as a way of getting the word out. you can't expect a movie that only a small group of the audience knows about to 'sell out' theaters even if the tickets are free. after all, it was only a PREVIEW and not many people from the general audience are going to make time out of their day to see a PREVIEW in theaters. again...the whole reason for the Avatar Day wasn't to 'sell out' theater seats, it was to get the word out and get people excited so they were start telling THEIR friends...and their friends would start telling THEIR friends....and so on...

You seriously think they didn't expect Avatar Day to go over huge? Please. Stop. I'll just walk away from this conversation.

 

[Kargo Warrior]

$1 billion? That's only never happening.

Hahaha yeah, ''it'll easily make a billion''?

200-250 Domestic

400-450 Overseas

And those are optimistic predictions for a non-sequel which looks like a videogame.

If people were easily sold to sci-fi overseas,Star Trek would have made more than $127 million,Iron Man would have made more than $266 million and so on and so forth.

The biggest hits overseas without any regards to quality or innovation are franchise movies:Spider-Man 3,Pirates 2 and 3,Ice Age 3...all of which were worse than their predecessors.Avatar doesn't have that luxury.

 

[SolarTiger]

I'd be surprised if the movie made less than 400 million WW also.

 

[SolarTiger]

And those are optimistic predictions for a non-sequel which looks like a videogame.

Er, what? I have never played a game that looked this good. Please show me one game.

 

[DorkyFresh]

You seriously think they didn't expect Avatar Day to go over huge?

they probably expected Avatar Day to be bigger than it ended up being but if they expected packed theaters then they were just fooling themselves. even i knew the theaters weren't gonna be packed and i'm just a regular movie nerd. again...if you can find me an article stating that they expect Avatar Day to pack theaters everywhere then i'll concede...

Please. Stop. I'll just walk away from this conversation.

that's normally what people do when they have no more good arguments.

 

[Kargo Warrior]

Er, what? I have never played a game that looked this good. Please show me one game.

If you're easily sold to aesthetics that's your taste and your right.

To me,Avatar has no bigger appeal than TF2 or 2012 or any other CGI fest.If it was groundbreaking in it's storytelling or it wasn't a recycling of a story we've seen a lot of times before,i could have understoood the hype easier.

The whole hype is based on the ''omg it will be groundbreaking''...and with 10 days till it's release it has zero buzz or great reviews.

Movies that were hyped and turned up to be great had a terrific buzz weeks before they came up.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

that's normally what people do when they have no more good arguments.

Actually because I'd prefer you stop embarrassing yourself. You have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[SolarTiger]

If you're easily sold to aesthetics that's your taste and your right.

To me,Avatar has no bigger appeal than TF2 or 2012 or any other CGI fest.If it was groundbreaking in it's storytelling or it wasn't a recycling of a story we've seen a lot of times before,i could have understoood the hype easier.

The whole hype is based on the ''omg it will be groundbreaking''...and with 10 days till it's release it has zero buzz or great reviews.

Movies that were hyped and turned up to be great had a terrific buzz weeks before they came up.

I agree the story is a bit cliche. It seems to be borrowing from Dancing with Wolves.

BTW the reason you don't see any reviews is because FOX has an embargo in place for all reviews.

 

[Kargo Warrior]

I agree the story is a bit cliche. It seems to be borrowing from Dancing with Wolves.

BTW the reason you don't see any reviews is because FOX has an embargo in place for all reviews.

But that really make very little sense...think about it,if they have great confidence in their movie like WB had with The Dark Knight,why would they stop reviews from getting out?

There were 15-20 raves for TDK a month before it's release,which added to the hype and got people really excited.Why would they try to contain the hype?

 

[DorkyFresh]

Actually because I'd prefer you stop embarrassing yourself. You have no idea what you're talking about.

how about you worry about you and i worry about myself? i've twice challenged you to show me an article that shows the execs expected Avatar to fill theaters and you've ignored/dismissed the challenge. if you can't take the challenge that's cool, but act like you're sparring me embarrassment. we're on a forum full of nerds and half the people who visit this thread probably aren't even reading our conversation. why would i worry about being embarrassed?

 

[Aesop Rocks]

Everyone worries about embarrassment. Just a sub-conscious thingy.

 

[FilmNerdJamie]

I don't have to point to any articles saying what they did or didn't expect. It's called common sense. A studio spends all that money for free footage at expensive IMAX theaters for their $400-$500 million budget tentpole. But they didn't expect it to go over like gang-busters? That's your argument. Which is why you're embarrassing yourself thinking that.

As I said, you don't know what you're talking about.

 

[dark_b]

But that really make very little sense...think about it,if they have great confidence in their movie like WB had with The Dark Knight,why would they stop reviews from getting out?

There were 15-20 raves for TDK a month before it's release,which added to the hype and got people really excited.Why would they try to contain the hype?

because of the hype a lot of people are against this movie. and because of the hype a lot of people are not watching this.

if this movie was not hyped up then i expect 40% more people screaming ''awesome'' about Avatar.
if you hype it up to change your life then of course you will fail.

 

[DorkyFresh]

I don't have to point to any articles saying what they did or didn't expect. It's called common sense.

call it whatever helps you sleep better at night, but what it really is, is not having evidence to back up your statement.

A studio spends all that money for free footage at expensive IMAX theaters for their $400-$500 million budget tentpole. But they didn't expect it to go over like gang-busters? That's your argument. Which is why you're embarrassing yourself thinking that.

again, i'm sure they were HOPING for packed theaters...but i doubt that they were realistically expecting for that. again, it's a 15 minute PREVIEW. you simply cannot expect everyone to flock to theaters for a PREVIEW no matter how long or free it is. THERE is some common sense for you.

As I said, you don't know what you're talking about.

well, i could care less what you think of me but it would me nice if you would stick to the subject and focus less on the person who's challenging your opinions.

 

[Aesop Rocks]

You two need to chill out.