Bayouwolf wrote:Box office, Schmox office...When I consider a movies success, I think in terms of longevity. The Rocky Horror Picture Show has been in wide release since the late 70's, and it's still being show at theaters today. Sure it's only shown at midnight and on Saturdays, but think about how much longer that flick will go on on the big screen. There's no real danger of it EVER being pulled. It still makes money...
RogueScribner wrote:Nothing's topped the domestic gross for Gone with the Wind (adjusted). Don't know about worldwide or if it even had a worldwide release.
ya know...I thought about this on the way in to work today...People are seeing this multiple times, and they are taking more people with them every time. We saw a glimpse of this when Titanic came out, it seemed like it was in theaters forever. But it was mostly repeat (female, and the men that wanted to shag them) viewers that put it over the top.
But with Avatar it's a little different. There are still places near our house that are sold out for the IMAX show, even in the middle of the week. People are seeing in multiple times, and they are taking all their friends and family. This flick just naturally appeals all ages and genders. I've seen old people and kids both wowing over this. It will be a long time before its no longer out in a theater somewhere.
And keep in mind, when GWtW came out, there were no multiplexes. You could go see it, or you could go see nothing at all. Sure word of mouth probably helped keep it at the cinemas for ages, but the fact that nothing else was strong enough to put in it's place at so many venues also speaks volumes of the quality of most films of that era.
Epic movie is epic.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. Sure, Avatar's got a somewhat unfair advantage that it has slightly more expensive tickets for its 3D screenings, but then, I thought about its DISadvantages too, and it just makes its success all the more impressive. One has to remember that during when films like
Gone with the Wind came out, cinemas would only be playing that ONE movie for months. Basically, it was either you watched THAT, or you didn't watch anything at all, and on top of that, they stayed there for MONTHS. And movies were around that time the most popular form of escapist entertainment, at least a lot more than today, especially during that era of the 30s-50s, which is normally considered the Golden Age of Cinema.
Another factor one has to think about is that Avatar wasn't based on any previous work. While its derivative of its themes from other stories and its overall plot is not exactly original, there wasn't any precedent before it like all other top-grossing films in history have had: Titanic (historic events), Lord of the Rings (worldwide known literary classic), Dark Knight (long-running comic book series AND sequel) are all prime examples, and besides that, the premise of the protagonists being CGI 10-foot-tall blue-skinned cat-like humanoids was something rather risky to sell to audiences too, and BESIDES that, it's sci-fi, a genre that not many people are into, especially many girls. And yet, this film has managed to win the biggest success in HISTORY in the shortest time, WORLDWIDE. And after 6 weeks, it's still #1, and still has a strong momentum going for it. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this film ends up being the first movie ever to reach the $2 billion landmark.
Cameron and crew have created something that appeals to all people of all ages of all genders and of all cultures. And, in my opinion, its because its story and themes have been executed in such a way that doesn't feel preachy or self-important whatsoever, and merely feel more like undertones, and therefore don't detract at all from the overall entertainment that the film offers while still leaving audiences somewhat emotionally connected to said themes after the movie's over. And last, but not least, most people aren't fans of 3D, and this movie has proven to be the first one ever that does it right enough to actually make people prefer to watch it that way.
Cameron himself said it, he wanted to bring people BACK into cinemas with this movie, because it's simply just the best way to experience it, and the experience is something not short of extraordinary and immersive. With this film, he's put sci-fi into a whole new level of popularity, and I being a sci-fi geek myself, couldn't be any happier for this.
All I can say to this is... Well done, J.C & Crew. Well-fucking-done...
) You'd hear a lot more mo-cap praise.
