I'm still confused why anyone went to see the first Avatar.
I can see why you would be surprised people liked it, but why people went to see it?
James Cameron, made T1, T2, The Abyss, and uhh Titanic.
All the promos showed the most realistic CG world ever. It looks a little dated now, but back then it was unbelievable.
3D was the hottest shit and one of the most acclaimed directors ever, was going all in on it with his latest movie. This was
THE showcase for 3D movies, so of course people wanted to see it.
Word of mouth. I saw Avatar twice in the theater. The first time with a friend the second time with my wife, because of the 3D. Pandora was an awesome setting and the fact that it was 100% fake, but looked so inviting in 3D was mind blowing at the time. So, I took my wife and told others to see it. Most people including myself, didn't give a fuck about the story. It was serviceable and gave a loose foundation to build up the world.
I haven't re-watched it in years, but when I get a 4K TV I will probably watch it again.