"Avatar" beats "Titanic" at the Box Office...

[MinionZombie]

Dizamn! :eek:

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.accesshollywood.com/avatar-officially-overtakes-titanic-global-box-office-record-with-185-billion


On Monday, the James Cameron-directed film passed Cameron's own "Titanic" as the highest grossing film of all-time, taking in $1.859 billion globally - after only 37 days in theaters.

"Titanic," released in 1997, held the previous record with $1.843 billion.

Now there is the issue of pricier tickets these days, and this one being in 3D, so less people will have bought tickets over all ... ... but I do wonder about price/value adjustment. 2009/10 money isn't the same as 1997 money - does this matter? How does that affect this situation?

...

Regardless, JC's gone and done it again. Even I'm surprised. I was thinking prior to its release that it'd at least do a billion dollars, but not beat Titanic - however, there you ruddy go - even if the higher ticket prices helped, people have still flocked to see it.

You can't deny its success, and it's developing it's own cult in a way - including these weirdos who see the movie then come out into the real world and get depressed because they're not on Pandora ... weird ... I was uplifted by it, and enjoyed visiting this fully realised other world (or moon, technically), and I just wanted to go back and see it again ... but I wasn't bummed out to still be in reality, lol.

Anyway, well done James Cameron. Well deserved as always.

[bassman]

I'm surprised it beat out Titanic, as well. Titanic had more of a universal appeal. Old and young alike could find something enjoyable out of that movie. I like Avatar, but I can't imagine it being the same.


That's a weird top three, aint it? Avatar, Titanic, and The Dark Knight.

[EvilNed]

I'm not that surprised. There are more mindless Avatar-zombies out there than there were LOTR zombies a few years back. This is the kind of movie that lonely and loveless 14 year olds fall in love with and go to see eleven times at the cinema and then they convince themselves (and their friends) that the movie has an important message that everyone needs to see.

Man. I hate Avatar (as a concept).

[MinionZombie]

I'm surprised it beat out Titanic, as well. Titanic had more of a universal appeal. Old and young alike could find something enjoyable out of that movie. I like Avatar, but I can't imagine it being the same.


That's a weird top three, aint it? Avatar, Titanic, and The Dark Knight.
That was my reasoning for thinking Avatar wouldn't beat-out Titanic - as the latter is more 'universal', whereas Avatar is sci-fi.

However, sci-fi has become more mainstream these days I guess, and being geeky isn't a bad thing anymore, so the landscape has changed.

Although again we come back to the issue of bums on seats, and Titanic had more arses on said seats, but I still wanna know if they're adjusting the value of 1997 ticket prices to those of 2009/10.

[DjfunkmasterG]

Dizamn! :eek:

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.accesshollywood.com/avatar-officially-overtakes-titanic-global-box-office-record-with-185-billion



Now there is the issue of pricier tickets these days, and this one being in 3D, so less people will have bought tickets over all ... ... but I do wonder about price/value adjustment. 2009/10 money isn't the same as 1997 money - does this matter? How does that affect this situation?

...

Regardless, JC's gone and done it again. Even I'm surprised. I was thinking prior to its release that it'd at least do a billion dollars, but not beat Titanic - however, there you ruddy go - even if the higher ticket prices helped, people have still flocked to see it.

You can't deny its success, and it's developing it's own cult in a way - including these weirdos who see the movie then come out into the real world and get depressed because they're not on Pandora ... weird ... I was uplifted by it, and enjoyed visiting this fully realised other world (or moon, technically), and I just wanted to go back and see it again ... but I wasn't bummed out to still be in reality, lol.

Anyway, well done James Cameron. Well deserved as always.


This is about as special as a paraplegic winning the 100yd dash.

Adjust for inflation and Avatar is nowhere near whupping Titanic. I still can't believe the amount of people that celebrate this mediocre film.

[Danny]

one boring mediocre film replaces another. i dont get why lots of websites tote it as being great BECAUSE its made the most money. but i cant be arsed to point out its just a well made mediocre movie with wooden actors and no memorable soundtrack because the cult of avatar are a brick wall. its like some ray bradbury shit where im the sane guy in a village of mad people who all think im mad.

still, hopefully this'll get cameron to release another obscure book as a good movie under his name after hes done with avatard 2: electric boogaloo.

[bassman]

I think Avatar has the problem of being cool to hate. Don't get me wrong...it should NOT be the number 1 and it definitely isn't as great as some people crack it up to be, but it's still a fairly solid flick.

It's just getting too much attention and that makes some people flat out hate it rather than give it a fair chance...

[Danny]

I think Avatar has the problem of being cool to hate. Don't get me wrong...it should NOT be the number 1 and it definitely isn't as great as some people crack it up to be, but it's still a fairly solid flick.

It's just getting too much attention and that makes some people flat out hate it rather than give it a fair chance...

no way dude. there are films like spiderman 3 or the dark knight where people will bitch just because but the bad press on avatar is totally valid. Ive said it before and ill say it again, technically it looks superb, but it is not the most realistic cgi we will ever have, people have said that about every cgi ehavy film that leaps forwards in technology. avatar has a rehashed plot from several childrens cartoon movies with dull in your face white guilt subtext and flat one dimensional characters. sully can do no wrong until it has to progress the plot to the inevitable 3rd act. the soundtrack was completely dismissible and brought nothing to the piece. look at the dark knight, i can remember like one piece of music in that flick but it was used so well. avatar had some great potential behind it, but it was so up its own ass to be blunt that it impressed upon you that you SHOULD be in awe of this, regardless of how good it is.
i realize film is subjective, so some people will think this is the best film ever, more power to them, but i am positive the negatives you hear for avatar are justified. because who, before they had seen it, where wanting a bad james cameron movie?, no one of course, the man made terminator 2 and that was a cornerstone of late 20th century cinema in terms of effects and the movie was great. i whent into avatar, having not looked into it much, and i was bored. everything was by the numbers, nothing was fresh or inventive. absolutely nothing. in 10 years when every blockbuster has this level of cgi as the run of the mill kids are going to look back on avatar when it only has its plot , acting and music to stand on and go "wow, thats not a very good movie".
Avatar isnt cool to hate, because theres no reason to hate, tech aside this film is just mediocre and irrelevant, its a null movie. i wouldn't talk people out of seeing it, i wouldn't recommend it. like i said, films all subjective, but even if you were blown away can you look at someone who points out its faults and honestly feel justified to say "your just hating, that film was fucking mindblowing"?

[AcesandEights]

because who, before they had seen it, where wanting a bad james cameron movie?, no one of course, the man made terminator 2 and that was a cornerstone of late 20th century cinema in terms of effects and the movie was great.

This is very true about T2, I've even heard people compare it to that cinematic classic Universal Soldier.

High praise indeed. :D

[MinionZombie]

This is very true about T2, I've even heard people compare it to that cinematic classic Universal Soldier.

High praise indeed. :D

Cheek git. UniSol rocks butt!


I think Avatar has the problem of being cool to hate. Don't get me wrong...it should NOT be the number 1 and it definitely isn't as great as some people crack it up to be, but it's still a fairly solid flick.

It's just getting too much attention and that makes some people flat out hate it rather than give it a fair chance...

Christ yes, to the bolded text.

I really enjoyed Avatar - so it has some flaws, so do a lot of fucking movies - but Avatar was a hell of an experience, and I enjoyed the fuck out of it. That's a GOOD thing.

The Dark Knight had an element of "cool to hate" about it with some people bitching about it endlessly just because it was insanely popular. Same goes for Modern Warfare 2 - although the hate there was FAR MORE RABID - but no less insignificant when compared to the screeds of people flocking to snap up a copy.

You know, if something is insanely popular, maybe it's because it has something going for it - there is a lot of shit pushed on the mainstream (*cough* X-Factor :elol: *cough*), but you know what I mean?

It's also odd that there were people bitching out The Dark Knight for being popular and raking in lots of money, who championed Iron Man ... :p ... I wonder what they'll be saying come Iron Man 2, which will no doubt being sucking up cash like nobody's business come May.

...

Where was I? Oh yeah, "cool to hate" ... yeah ... there's definitely some, or even a lot, of that sort of thing anytime something comes along that a lot of people are:

A) Looking forward to.
B) Going to see/play.

I myself get fed up of a lot of hype, or frothy-mouthed obsession over some new big thing coming along, but you know what - it's better when you actively seek to avoid some of it. It's healthy to look forward to something, but equally there's going too far ... ... one example of that is the sheer volume of videos IGN and Machinima were pimping up all over YouTube about Modern Warfare 2 ... or have done for any major franchise entry. It's fucking retarded - not to mention annoying as my YouTube front page is always crushed under the weight of all their friggin' "countdown" et al videos (seeing as I'm subscribed to those channels).

*rant over*

...

I'll also clarify, just in case, that I'm a fan of Avatar not because it's making a load of cash - I was merely pointing out the news as nobody else had on the forum - but because I dug it.

See my thoughts about it on my blog in the December 2009 section.

[MinionZombie]

Further delving into the figures here, with adjusted dollery-doos.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/forbes-avatar-box-office-king.html

*waits for the Avatar bashing* :rolleyes:

It'd be interesting to see, in this sort of context, what other "big earners" aren't as big as they were.

These figures being discussed above are only box office (and only American domestic Box Office at that?), so video sales aren't included.

[AcesandEights]

*waits for the Avatar bashing* :rolleyes:

It does get a bit tedious, eh? Good points a few posts above about how it's very in to hate Avatar, just as it is to hate anything that's too successful nowadays. Easy targets and all that.

[MinionZombie]

It does get a bit tedious, eh? Good points a few posts above about how it's very in to hate Avatar, just as it is to hate anything that's too successful nowadays. Easy targets and all that.
*high five* Sir, *high five*

Exactly.

I mean, maybe, just maybe, if a movie's making a shit-ton of money, it's because people like it (regardless of higher ticket prices and 3D, Avatar has gotten a lot of people to see it, and excited enough to see it in 3D, which makes up the bulk of the ticket sales).

It's gonna kill on DVD and BR, that's for damn sure.

[MikePizzoff]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world who has always had ZERO interest in seeing this movie.

[wayzim]

I'm one of those guys who thought Titanic was pretty cool, both technically and with a story buoyed by the enthused performances of the leads. I also thought Kate Winslet was quite the talent and definitely a looker. But I'd already been interested in the history, and had earlier Titanic movies in my collection( though not the TV version released just before Cameron's blockbuster, with Peter Gallagher and a then relatively unknown Catherine Zeta Jones )

I went to Avatar twice, only because the first time was in 2D and my movie buddy wanted to see it in IMAX ( it was pretty damn good )
But the story?
For an old Sci Fi fan, it was OK - Been there, seen it. For Example. Both versions of Solaris did more interesting things with the idea of a planetary intelligence than Cameron.
Still, the most rabid fans were like those who never did Fantasy before Harry Potter, or Horror & The Undead until Twilight.
Does this make Avatar better than Titanic? or The Best Movie Ever?
I wouldn't think so, but Media was never that discriminating to begin with when Make or Break is generally measured in a single weekend.
I really liked Titanic, but I'm not going to be crying over a pint any time soon.

Wayne Z

[Mr.G]

I feel like I'm the only person in the world who has always had ZERO interest in seeing this movie.

You aren't alone. I haven't seen it either. And for people debating which movie is #1, nothing will come close to Gone with the Wind. Adjusted for inflation, it earned 1.5 billion in US sales alone. And no, I didn't think that movie was good either.

[SRP76]

Why they even bother with money is beyond me. Well, actually, it's not; I know damn well why they do it. They do it to skew the stats in their favor.

Money should NEVER have entered into this. From the day of the first moving picture, the number of tickets bought should have been the only measured stat, period. It's eternally consistent. Three tickets was always three tickets, is still three tickets, and always will be three tickets.

But they wouldn't be able to put a spin on that, and we can't ever use anything that can't be manipulated.

[Mr.G]

Why they even bother with money is beyond me. Well, actually, it's not; I know damn well why they do it. They do it to skew the stats in their favor.

Money should NEVER have entered into this. From the day of the first moving picture, the number of tickets bought should have been the only measured stat, period. It's eternally consistent. Three tickets was always three tickets, is still three tickets, and always will be three tickets.

But they wouldn't be able to put a spin on that, and we can't ever use anything that can't be manipulated.

I agree 100%. If this was the rule, the debates/arguements would cease to exist.

[blind2d]

Yep, and that would suck all the fun right out! Also, yes, we Americans (or is it people in general?) money-obsessed and evaluating that money, its fluctuations and transition, more than is healthy. How can the economy be in such bad shape as they tell us if a movie can make this much in such a short time? It doesn't gel with me... I know all the psychological theories and all, but still... it's nearly impossible to explain.