The most expensive movie of all time, "Avatar", debuted last month after extreme pre-release hype and a public relations marketing campaign so solid it could have helped to sink the Titanic. The film, directed by James Cameron, was so anticipated that talked about that you couldn't go into any public place without seeing some type of "Avatar" merchandise or hearing someone speak about the film.
The director, James Cameron, is also the director of the 1997 classic "Titanic", which still holds the record for overall box office totals of $1.84 billion, that has stood for over a decade. Now, only seventeen days into it's reign at the box office, "Avatar", has already surpassed the billion dollar mark, and is expected to continue the climb until it knocks the "Titanic" film into the deep oceans of years past.
The second placed all time film release, "Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King", broke slightly over $1.14 billion, yet it was in the theaters for nearly five months. Avatar, is assuring itself to claim at least the second place crown, while its almost toppled that number of box office sales in a half of a month.
Even while the people of the planet exist in what's called a "struggling world economy", that struggle has not at all affected the extreme profits of James Cameron's masterpiece, and many believe that after merchandise, memorabilia, and ticket sales, it will be the highest total grossing film in history.
The film, promising amazing special effects, a high intensity plot, and a production company full of infamous minds, still had a relatively unknown cast, and that is one more reason it comes as such a shocker to film critics with it's success. "It defies all the right ingredients for a blockbuster", stated Richard Roeper, world famous movie buff extraordinaire.
Another toppling success story here, is the fact that Avatar for nearly 3 weeks now, has been "the most pirated movie" on the internet. Following in the footsteps of "The Dark Knight" in 2008, a movie which was considered to be the most illegally downloaded, is also breaking box office records when it comes to international sales. Further discrediting the entertainment industry's claims that "piracy is killing their profit margins", and showing the world that when quality movies are released, people will spend their money to see them.
Currently sitting in fourth place for all time grossing at the box office, "Avatar" after another week, will more than likely topple the competition of the rest, other than "Titanic". With most theaters showing the film simultaneously on multiple screens, its expected that the ticket sales will not decrease anytime soon, as some fans have stated they've went back for second and third helpings of the amazing movie.
For a film that broke absolutely no records on it's first weekend in theaters, with a fair but lower than expected showing of a $70 million opening weekend, it's insane to most to imagine that it's already made a billion dollars. That's an intense amount of cash for any film to handle, let alone one with a run time of over two and a half hours.
Revenues from the film though, are only double what it cost James Cameron's crew to create the film, as it was considered to be the single most expensive motion picture in the history of the industry, with a cost of over a half billion dollars. That extremely high budget, along with the major hype that surrounded the film weeks before it came out, had so many people dying to see it, that it was the talk of every family around the dinner table, the talk of the work place, and the buzz topic on the internet.
With 17 days down, and an intense oscar season coming ahead, Avatar is sure to continue at its high pace of ever increasing sales, regardless if any other competition hits the theaters which risk declining the sales. Avatar is one of a kind, and love it or hate it, that's undeniable. What remains to be seen, is if this is it for the film, or if it's inspired the director James Cameron to come out with a sequel.
With the reputation that proceeds him, many expect a series of Avatar films to follow, although it's yet to be determined how many years it could be until we hear tale of another film. It's said that Avatar was four plus years of filming, and that the idea itself was under works for a decade.
Just imagine spending a half of a billion dollars, yes, a billion dollars, to make a movie. It had to be impressive in the visual aspect to simply cost that kind of money. Alongside the Avatar premier, is the now showing 3D release of the ultra-popular film, which is expected to bring out more crowds to fill the iMax theaters as well.
If there is one thing that can be certain about these films, is that it cements James Cameron's legacy as one of the highest profile filmmakers of all time, and that it verifies to the world, that when James Cameron heads the direction of a movie, that it's a guaranteed blockbuster.
fuckin crazy thats all i gotta say
i haven't see it and i don't think i ever will but i gotta say the man can make great movies(so i've heard) lol
