Avatar: The Way Of Water

[Disneyhead]

Cameron has been distracted this decade. He's been busy trying to fly a submarine to Mars. I was surprised when Cameron turned down Elon Musk's help.

 

[Nick]

So Avatar's re-release brought in an a #1 opening weekend of $21.1M (almost triple of Raya's opening weekend in the region just last week). Not astronomical, but for a re-release that's pretty good and i'd say show's people still have interest in the film.

I honestly think the film being more about the visuals and less about the dialogue helps it translate to the Chinese audience a lot better than some of these other films as you can understand what's going on for the most part just by seeing it, you don't even need to hear it much to have a good time with Avatar.

 

[joelbryant11]

It’s a very good sign for Avatar 2 I think. Will be huge.

 

[Nick]

So there was basically two things I took away from the Avatar box office reaction people had on social media this weekend. One of them was on my timeline and my facebook feed, a lot of people came out of the wood work expressing how much they remember liking Avatar and are actually looking forward to a sequel.

The other thing was that James Cameron is this film's star power in many ways. Much like a Scorsese film, James Cameron has an incredibly loyal following and in many of the posts I mentioned above, they mentioned James Cameron specifically as a reason they were looking forward to Avatar 2 because when Cameron directs a film, he rarely misses. And it's hard to argue with anyone that says that. Look at his track record for his non-documentary directed films dating back to 1984 (with Rotten Tomatoes score in parenthesis):

1984 - Terminator (100%)
1986 - Aliens (97%)
1989 - The Abyss (89%)
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (93%)
1994 - True Lies (71%)
1997 - Titanic (89%)
2009 - Avatar (82%)

Now Cameron has attached himself to films such as Point Break, Sanctum, and more recently, Alita: Battle Angel, and Terminator Dark Fate, but he hasn't directed a proper film (non-documentary) himself since 2009's Avatar and the numbers don't lie - Cameron has always been a successful director, both critically and at the box office. His following that will see any movie he directs because they know to expect an epic, high caliber blockbuster is what will help make Avatar 2 a success if it is to become one.

 

[HalfGlass]

So there was basically two things I took away from the Avatar box office reaction people had on social media this weekend. One of them was on my timeline and my facebook feed, a lot of people came out of the wood work expressing how much they remember liking Avatar and are actually looking forward to a sequel.

The other thing was that James Cameron is this film's star power in many ways. Much like a Scorsese film, James Cameron has an incredibly loyal following and in many of the posts I mentioned above, they mentioned James Cameron specifically as a reason they were looking forward to Avatar 2 because when Cameron directs a film, he rarely misses. And it's hard to argue with anyone that says that. Look at his track record for his non-documentary directed films dating back to 1984 (with Rotten Tomatoes score in parenthesis):

1984 - Terminator (100%)
1986 - Aliens (97%)
1989 - The Abyss (89%)
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (93%)
1994 - True Lies (71%)
1997 - Titanic (89%)
2009 - Avatar (82%)

Now Cameron has attached himself to films such as Point Break, Sanctum, and more recently, Alita: Battle Angel, and Terminator Dark Fate, but he hasn't directed a proper film (non-documentary) himself since 2009's Avatar and the numbers don't lie - Cameron has always been a successful director, both critically and at the box office. His following that will see any movie he directs because they know to expect an epic, high caliber blockbuster is what will help make Avatar 2 a success if it is to become one.

I’m in this boat for sure. Guy’s an ego maniac and the Daniel Day Lewis of directors (in that he picks and chooses projects years apart), but everything he’s directed has been good in my opinion, quality wise and in most cases financially too.

 

[GAcoaster]

I just found out Lost Boys is on HBO Max (it hadn't been available on any streaming service when I wanted to watch it last year). I haven't seen it in years, but I hope it's as good as I remember...

 

[Nick]

I just found out Lost Boys is on HBO Max (it hadn't been available on any streaming service when I wanted to watch it last year). I haven't seen it in years, but I hope it's as good as I remember...

...did you mean to post this in the HBO Max thread?

 

[GAcoaster]

Oops, yes!

 

[Nick]

Avatar's re-release has now taken in $44M in 10 days of release, putting it only behind The Croods: A New Age ($53M), Soul ($57M) and Tenet ($66M) among the Hollywood films released in China since the pandemic started (China specific numbers). If i'm Disney, i'm very encouraged by this as it shows you basically have the Chinese market on lock for Avatar 2. I'll be really interested to see the numbers if a UK or US re-release happen for the film before Avatar 2.

 

[Nick]

Avatar 2 & Aquaman 2 both releasing on the same day became a point of discussion from a Discussing Film tweet and the very high response of people saying they want to see Avatar 2 is… shocking. And I’m a fan of the movie.

 

[belloq87]

I don't think there's any way they both actually come out on the same day.

But I also don't know where else they could be put.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Avatar 2 & Aquaman 2 both releasing on the same day became a point of discussion from a Discussing Film tweet and the very high response of people saying they want to see Avatar 2 is… shocking. And I’m a fan of the movie.

Not supriising, since the DC movies are so hit an miss... WW was great and then there was WW84... I wonder if A2 will reunite the 3D interest again, like A1 did. (I mean, we all know the 3D landscapes - especially in IMAX- was a huge part of repeat visits)

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Not supriising, since the DC movies are so hit an miss... WW was great and then there was WW84... I wonder if A2 will reunite the 3D interest again, like A1 did. (I mean, we all know the 3D landscapes - especially in IMAX- was a huge part of repeat visits)

I don't think it'll reignite 3D but there's definitely a nostalgia wave that's coming and will probably crest around the new movie.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

The Battle of the River James. Two corny filmmakers named James making movies about water.

 

[HORRORable Commenter]

Avatar 2 & Aquaman 2 both releasing on the same day became a point of discussion from a Discussing Film tweet and the very high response of people saying they want to see Avatar 2 is… shocking. And I’m a fan of the movie.

Really don't think these will come put the same time since the DCEU apparently needs to release flash and Shazam before it

 

[Nick]

 

[AlexanderMBush]

This..honestly feels like the best idea.

Bake it into what is going to be the biggest Marvel film of the year, have it get people hooked and ready for December.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

My hot take is Avatar 2 will be a flop in the grand scheme of things. At the time, this was revolutionary for film making. I just don’t see how they can repeat that, and it’s been so long I’m curious how deep the love is for the film. Idk. It’ll do well, but I’m not thinking top, say, 25 box office of all time, or top 30. Still curious about it though.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

My hot take is Avatar 2 will be a flop in the grand scheme of things. At the time, this was revolutionary for film making. I just don’t see how they can repeat that, and it’s been so long I’m curious how deep the love is for the film. Idk. It’ll do well, but I’m not thinking top, say, 25 box office of all time, or top 30. Still curious about it though.

If there's one thing I've come to understand, it's that people don't bet against Cameron.

This is going to be his first major motion picture that he was involved in fully and completely, and it seems he has opted this time to invest in the money on expanding the ratios for formats like IMAX, and expanding how sequences can be shot within water. As opposed to completely invigorating the 3D genre.

 

[Nick]

My hot take is Avatar 2 will be a flop in the grand scheme of things. At the time, this was revolutionary for film making. I just don’t see how they can repeat that, and it’s been so long I’m curious how deep the love is for the film. Idk. It’ll do well, but I’m not thinking top, say, 25 box office of all time, or top 30. Still curious about it though.

I think it easily gets over $1B, but doesn't come close to $2B, which is no shame, especially since I don't think there's any technological tricks for Cameron to use here (we still don't have glasses free 3D according to my knowledge, so...).

You also have to factor in that China absolutely loved the film so much that the movie grossed $60M last year just off a quick re-release.