I've said this before and I'll say it again... I can feel it in my bones that this movie will be the biggest ever. I don't particularly care one way or another (I thought The Avengers was a delight), but just ignoring my own fanboyism, ignoring picking favorites, and just looking at the Box Office objectively... I think TDKR will win. It's a monster that nobody is fully appreciating yet, and this goes back months ago when I had discussions with Raganork8, way before The Avengers was released. TDKR is something quite different than what we're led to believe.
If you ignore The Avengers for a moment, look at TDKR not as a comparison to The Avengers but as a comparison to James Cameron instead.
You might not want to believe it, but consider this: Avatar was riding on the coattails of Titanic. Before you argue with me, just let that statement sizzle for a minute. Really think about that statement before you assume that it's all BS.
- Everybody thought Titanic was going to be a flop.
- Nobody, including the studio, had a lot of confidence in its potential success.
- James Cameron wasn't a household name.
- Titanic became the biggest movie of all time in 1997.
- James Cameron became a household name.
Now, imagine for a moment, just to play pretend, that Avatar is a sequel to Titanic. We all know that's not true, but just pretend it is for this argument.
- James Cameron hadn't made a movie in 13 years.
- James Cameron was still a household name because of Titanic.
- When Avatar was being promoted, it reminded everyone that it was "From the Director of Titanic."
- Avatar's ticket prices were raised significantly for 3D showings.
- Avatar became the biggest movie ever.
The fact that James Cameron's name alone sold Avatar to the mass public, proves to me that TDKR is much bigger than anyone is assuming.
- 13 years passed between Titanic and Avatar, and people still remembered.
- Only 4 years passed between TDK and TDKR, so people definitely remember.
- Avatar wasn't actually a sequel to Titanic.
- TDKR is a sequel to TDK, and it's completing a story that was already established.
- Avatar beat Titanic's B.O., which was the biggest movie ever.
- TDK was the second highest grossing movie EVER, right under Titanic.
- James Cameron was a household name when Avatar was being released.
- Christopher Nolan's name is being promoted in the TDKR trailers, and Nolan is a household name from TDK and Inception.
So, just imagining that Nolan and Cameron follow the same track record here, TDKR has a better chance at beating Avatar than Avatar had a chance at beating Titanic. That's just my opinion, but the evidence is there. And if that's true, then that also assumes (obviously) that TDKR has a better chance at beating TDK than Avatar had a chance at beating Titanic.
So, where The Avengers comes into all of this, I don't really know... but I have a feeling that it doesn't even have a dog in this fight. And that's not because I'm a DC fanboy (I'm not); I loved The Avengers. But TDKR as a box office animal is going to be something monstrous.
Granted, I'm bored, so I'm just typing away for my own amusement... but I think the Nolan/Cameron parallel is definitely relevant.