I'm not a big fan of Cameron, but the fact that he reached those records with a completely new IP is something that still blows my mind. Though I don't really think a new Avatar could get close to Endgame, a film that was built up in a span of ten freaking years of really good movies.
I don't even think it looks all that dated compared to what they are putting out now. I think it still surpasses most of the blockbusters today.
I really love James Cameron, but the exact opposite of what you are attributing is true: sequels typically pull in less money than their prequels, especially story-driven continuations. That Avengers End Game beat Avatar is even more impressive, because you needed to see the previous one to really get the hype for it.
If you turn on your noggin you might figure it out one day.
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.
If that were the case, wouldn't one expect more than 6 or 7 movies out of the Top 50 to be original? The other 40+ were either a sequel/prequel or remake of an existing IP. The only exceptions I found were Frozen, Jurassic Park, Zootopia, Jumanji, Titanic, and Avatar. So it would seem being an original IP has a much smaller chance of getting anywhere close to the top of the list these days.
Edit: Just realized even Jumanji was technically a sequel.
Take a harder look at the list. They are entries in franchises, but the entries that appear on the top 50 list are usually reboots or beginnings of new arcs. Like Jurassic World -- you basically don't have to see any of the previous JP movies to dive in, or The Force Awakens.
Take a harder look at the list. They are entries in franchises, but the entries that appear on the top 50 list are usually reboots or beginnings of new arcs. Like Jurassic World -- you basically don't have to see any of the previous JP movies to dive in, or The Force Awakens.
It took the MCU 20 tries with a proven brand to beat Cameron's tossed off blue ferngully bullshit. Avatar 20 will be the first movie to crack 100 billion.
First and only time we had real 3-d in theaters
I literally said "remake" in my post; I don't see why that should get counted as an exception
That Ferngully complaint is always so amusing. Like how did Ferngully hurt people so deeply that Avatar opened up such a painful wound
Yeah and none of those were on par or had the word of mouth power to have people be like "you have to see this movie avatar in 3-d"
+ you know, detective dee / flying swords of dragon gate, pacific rim, the hobbit
Because the point I made in my post was that viewing a sequel requires one to see the previous film first, as in the potential audience is normally a subset of the previous audience, and you never, ever hit 100% of your potential audience. Like, that's the entire point, that's precisely why a remake or reboot doesn't count.
We're not talking about "theoretical" movies, we're talking about End Game, a direct sequel to a movie with a cliffhanger ending.
Yeah and none of those were on par or had the word of mouth power to have people be like "you have to see this movie avatar in 3-d"
Fuck the story and characters, the whole 3-d experience is what brought people in.
Like no one ever seen something like that before outside of 12 minute movies at Disney world Parks
making zero mention of the "having to see the previous movie" first argument you're now using for some reason
That Avengers End Game beat Avatar is even more impressive, because you needed to see the previous one to really get the hype for it.
Pacific Rim didn't have any crazy wow 3-d type effects that moved audiences to see the film. It got beaten by a damn Adam Sandler movie that wasn't even good. If that movie was that impressive in 3-d it would have performed better.Gravity absolutely did tho ? same for pacific rim ? cant even imagine what these should be in 2D
oh and, yeah you're right, the wow factor absolutely helped
Haha oops! I got confused when you extrapolated that to other sequels as well. My mistake
The point remains though: if sequels regularly made less, why are they dominating the list?
Take a harder look at the list. They are entries in franchises, but the entries that appear on the top 50 list are usually reboots or beginnings of new arcs. Like Jurassic World -- you basically don't have to see any of the previous JP movies to dive in, or The Force Awakens.
Pacific Rim didn't have any crazy wow 3-d type effects that moved audiences to see the film.
Avatar, Titanic, Star Wars: A New Hope, ET, Jurassic Park and Gone With The Wind were all at one time or another the #1 grossing film of all time, and all of them were new IPs/non-sequels. The kind of broad appeal it takes to be #1 means you cannot rely on a built-in fanbase (generally).If that were the case, wouldn't one expect more than 6 or 7 movies out of the Top 50 to be original? The other 40+ were either a sequel/prequel or remake of an existing IP. The only exceptions I found were Frozen, Jurassic Park, Zootopia, Jumanji, Titanic, and Avatar. So it would seem being an original IP has a much smaller chance of getting anywhere close to the top of the list these days.
Edit: Just realized even Jumanji was technically a sequel.
Avatar may not be the most original movie, but it's not like Avengers is high art with something profound to say. At least Avatar has ecological themes that are relevant to the world today. I'd say they're both similar in quality. Cameron doesn't have an outright bad film on his resume.
It's a spectacle. The effects for that time were insane. It was worth it in the sense that it was a must-see theater experience. It's definitely not the same whenever you catch it on TV imo.
It took the MCU 20 tries with a proven brand to beat Cameron's tossed off blue ferngully bullshit.
Carter is joining the 2020 race?
It took the MCU 20 tries with a proven brand to beat Cameron's tossed off blue ferngully bullshit. Avatar 20 will be the first movie to crack 100 billion.
It took the MCU 20 tries with a proven brand to beat Cameron's tossed off blue ferngully bullshit. Avatar 20 will be the first movie to crack 100 billion.
Hey did you all notice that AVATAR is just POCAHONTAS in SPACE? Heh. Pretty dumb right? God I'm so smart please love me
Avatar may not be the most original movie, but it's not like Avengers is high art with something profound to say. At least Avatar has ecological themes that are relevant to the world today. I'd say they're both similar in quality. Cameron doesn't have an outright bad film on his resume.
Easily, it's only a $7m difference. Though you gotta wonder if they'll ever do that.Refreshingly humble of him. I bet if they re-released the original like 6 months before the sequel, with all the 3D bells and whistles, and hyped the shit out of it and played it up as an opportunity to relive the spectacle now that 3D is basically dead, it'd get the #1 spot back.