AfterDawn: Tech news

'Avatar' continues to cruise at box office, records fall

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Jan 2010 3:34 User comments (25)

'Avatar' continues to cruise at box office, records fall The James Cameron epic Avatar has continued to crush the competition at the Box Office and in the record books, becoming the second-highest worldwide release ever, just one month after release.
Globally, the film earned $191.5 million this weekend, for a total of $1.3 billion. The figure surpasses "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which made slightly over $1.2 billion during its run. Avatar is now only behind Titanic, Cameron's last epic which collected $1.84 billion at the Box Office in 1998.

In America, Avatar has hit $430 million in sales, good for 7th all-time. Titanic is the leader there as well, at $601 million.

Internationally, the film is a sensation as well, with $906 million in sales. France is the largest market, at $100 million, followed by Germany at $73 million. The film set a Chinese launch week record as well with $40.2 million last week.

The film cost $230 million to produce and had an estimated marketing budget of $130 million.



Avatar will also undoubtedly be the best selling Blu-ray and DVD of all-time when it is released sometime later this year.

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25 user comments

110.1.2010 16:27

Hmmm... I thought the movie industry was dieing?

210.1.2010 18:02

Amak, only when they try to sell garbage. This was a great movie I suspect it will be the best of this year. I am sure the extra money for 3-D helped the sales a great deal.

310.1.2010 18:18

Originally posted by Mez:
Amak, only when they try to sell garbage. This was a great movie I suspect it will be the best of this year. I am sure the extra money for 3-D helped the sales a great deal.

This should prove once again a poor box office performance/disc sales doesn't have as much to do with piracy, that's just a poor excuse for coming out with junk. If they put out quality stuff, people will spend the money. There's plenty of stuff that I wouldn't even waste bandwidth to get it for "free", not to mention hard earned cash.

410.1.2010 19:09

It's a shame all those evil file sharers are stealing all the entertainment industry's profits or this movie would probably be breaking recor... wait a minute...

Just goes to show the problem was never copyright infringement - it was crappy material.

510.1.2010 20:51

Like the last 3 posters said...piracy is not to blame. If you make a great (or even just good) movie, people will go out and see it. ie. Dark Knight, Avatar, Iron Man...

611.1.2010 12:54

Titanic wasn't good, but it's the highest grossing of all time.

Cameron has the formula/following to get it done, apparently.

711.1.2010 14:33

Originally posted by pirkster:
Titanic wasn't good, but it's the highest grossing of all time.

Cameron has the formula/following to get it done, apparently.

Now we're getting into personal tastes.Maybe you didn't like it, but ask millions of females, and they will have different opinion about Titanic.

811.1.2010 15:46

I wasn't really a big fan of Dances with Pocahontas gully 2

911.1.2010 20:22

Personally, Avatar will never be as big as Titanic due to inflation over the past decade. If you include even a 2%/year inflation for ticket prices over the years Titanic made over $2.15 Billion in today's dollars. Titantic is an 'everyone including old people' film. Avatar is mainly a Man / Father and Kid movie.

I do respect James Cameron though. His vision is what drives his movies. For a 3 hour movie... Avatar was great. The 3d was done near perfectly the entire run of the film.

I'd even see it again just to pay more attention to the sound as the visuals just pulls your mind away.

1012.1.2010 00:11

Saw Avatar in 3D last night, Brilliant, both Visually, and the sound was more than adequate, Cinema doesn't have the best sound system, Avatar stretched it to its limits and beyond, But film was just Brilliant, Wasn't happy with 2012, and After Dawn wasn't really the best I'd seen, An Paranormal was extremely disappointing,But AVATAR, wow, it was done well, and had a good, believable story line,no wonder it is doing so well. May even see it again, but at a cinema with top quality sound, will have to travel more than the 160km I traveled to see AVATAR.Will have to travel about 500 km to do so.That's how good I think it is.

1112.1.2010 07:51
emugamer
Inactive

Originally posted by andmill11:
I wasn't really a big fan of Dances with Pocahontas gully 2
ROFL!

1212.1.2010 09:04

Originally posted by djgizmo:
Personally, Avatar will never be as big as Titanic due to inflation over the past decade. If you include even a 2%/year inflation for ticket prices over the years Titanic made over $2.15 Billion in today's dollars. Titantic is an 'everyone including old people' film. Avatar is mainly a Man / Father and Kid movie.

I don't know about that. My wife hates 'those types' of movies and she thought it was one of the best films she has ever seen. Maybe she was on drugs! She is as predictable as a snow fall in the Washington DC area.

1312.1.2010 09:25
emugamer
Inactive

My wife is totally not interested in that "CGI orgy" (her words). But she brought a tissue box to see Titanic.....twice. I'm finally going to see it this Saturday in 3D.

1412.1.2010 09:25
fgamer
Inactive

Oh boy it looks like the movie industry isn't failing because of pirates. Come to find out it's because of the lack of good movies being made. Avatar proves that if you make something good people will go pay to see it.

1512.1.2010 15:32

Quote:
Originally posted by pirkster:
Titanic wasn't good, but it's the highest grossing of all time.

Cameron has the formula/following to get it done, apparently.

Now we're getting into personal tastes.Maybe you didn't like it, but ask millions of females, and they will have different opinion about Titanic.
That's pretty much my point.

It doesn't have to be good, just likeable. He seems to be able to draw them with beautiful context (regardless of lacking content.)

It's the highest grossing film, however it is *not* the highest rated/regarded film by critics or even fans.

1612.1.2010 15:52

Originally posted by pirkster:
...
That's pretty much my point.

It doesn't have to be good, just likeable. He seems to be able to draw them with beautiful context (regardless of lacking content.)

It's the highest grossing film, however it is *not* the highest rated/regarded film by critics or even fans.
The fans seems to like it, they're the ones going to watch it. As for the critics, they are not the ones bringing in the dough. There are people that go to see a movie based on critics reviews/awards or whatever...But there are plenty that don't really care of whatever critics have to say, and they decide for themselves. There are plenty of Oscar nominated/awarded films that I would be sorry to have spent a buck to see them in a movie theater, and plenty that were just tramped by the critics, and I still fully enjoyed them.

Whatever the critics say, ultimately is the $$$ that speaks. And the $$$ is brought in by the fans, which so far have received it quite positive.Maybe the story is not a novelty,maybe is old, just in a new context, maybe it lacks whatever "substance" some people are looking for,but I don't think that's what the movie is supposed to be about. It brings innovation,pushes the visuals to extreme, so far is one of a kind.I doubt Cameron had in mind some super drama or charcter development award.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Jan 2010 @ 3:54

1712.1.2010 16:06
emugamer
Inactive

I agree with cyprusrom. The fans will decide. 2 of my friends are going with me on Saturday even though they've already seen it.

I'll be paying to see Cameron's vision, not to try to find some obscure meaning. He created a new world using state-of-the-art technology and new visuals. All stories have been done already in so many different ways. Any movie you watch really has already been done with different characters in a different setting. I wouldn't not see a movie just because it addresses a theme that I've already watched. What makes it good, or even great is how the story is told. You can tell me a hundred stories about how greed destroys and how selfish humans are, and if you can tell them to me with different characters each time, and make me care about those characters, I'll listen to each one.

1812.1.2010 17:53

You both continue to miss the larger point.

An argument has been made that "good" movies sell. That's not true. Being popular does not equate to quality of a movie. That could apply to any entertainment medium. Twilight is another good example in recent times.

Some of the best movies (and there have been countless scores of movies that are "better" than Avatar in the history of film) do not sell well. Some do, others don't.

There is a difference between popularity and how "good" something is.

I'm not saying it isn't a good movie, just that sales indicate a measure of popularity (not how "good the movie actually is.)

There is deeper meaning than simply semantics. Look beyond the surface of the argument.

1912.1.2010 18:12

You know the saying " beauty is in eye of the beholder".
I think we can transfer that when we talk about movies...what one person might consider to be a "good movie", someone else might find it to be less than mediocre. Not everyone applies the same criteria when judging a movie, and at the same time not all movies should be included in the same criteria when judged.
Avatar is one of the best for what is meant to be. If you compare lets say Avatar with something like Silence of The Lambs for example,or LOTR... then is like comparing apples with oranges. You'll always have people that like one over the other, and any given individuals will find to be the best the one they enjoy the most.

2012.1.2010 20:58
emugamer
Inactive

Originally posted by pirkster:
You both continue to miss the larger point.

An argument has been made that "good" movies sell. That's not true. Being popular does not equate to quality of a movie. That could apply to any entertainment medium. Twilight is another good example in recent times.

Some of the best movies (and there have been countless scores of movies that are "better" than Avatar in the history of film) do not sell well. Some do, others don't.

There is a difference between popularity and how "good" something is.

I'm not saying it isn't a good movie, just that sales indicate a measure of popularity (not how "good the movie actually is.)

There is deeper meaning than simply semantics. Look beyond the surface of the argument.
I didn't miss any point, but thanks for the wisdom Captain Obvious.

2113.1.2010 09:02

What critics say is almost meaningless to me. Most are influenced by the media who are idiots. Most critics are silver tongued idiots. They are kept even though they never are close to what the consumers think. Obviously, their editors care more about something else or maybe they don't care at all.

Dollars spent correcting for inflation is the best gauge for a rating. Just because you dissagree with the masses so what. Maybe your tastes are not the same as the masses. Even though most of us are idiots, what we choose to spend our hard earned money on is a true test of greatness.

2213.1.2010 19:23

Talking about critics, here's the junk they come up with:

http://www.cinematical.com/2010/01/13/la...-of-the-decade/


2315.1.2010 07:20

Is this a movie or a cartoon ? Either way , I hope to God it's better than that awful rubbish "Titanic" - so long winded and boring I was rooting for the ship to sink quick after the first 2 hours just so i could get back home ! How the hell that beceame the highest grossing film ever is beyond me.
Got to hand it to Cameron though , he obviously has the Midas touch or is a master at self-publication and marketing.

2415.1.2010 18:25

Funny how they stated that the movie is the SECOND best (avatar) selling movie of ALL TIME behind The Titanic... Next thing you know, the RIAA will come out swinging saying that because of piracy, this movie would have been the number one selling movie of alltime... You know how those bastards are!!!

2515.1.2010 18:33

Originally posted by domie:
Is this a movie or a cartoon ? Either way , I hope to God it's better than that awful rubbish "Titanic" - so long winded and boring I was rooting for the ship to sink quick after the first 2 hours just so i could get back home ! How the hell that beceame the highest grossing film ever is beyond me.
Got to hand it to Cameron though , he obviously has the Midas touch or is a master at self-publication and marketing.
It's a Movie 4 sure!
The motion capture technology used in this, transfers every little facial inflection and limb movement of the actor, and bonds it seemlessly with the character...it's amazing to see it. Plus much of the movie is real actor and set as well, so when it's all put together it's simply stunning.
This advances CGI tech into the next generation for sure, and now we'll see a GLUT of lesser films using this tech, flood the market soon. Just like Cop, Hospital, and lately.."Reality" shows (BARF) on TV, once a genre makes a big splash, it seems everything else for the next decade is a spinoff of that same initial premise. And it all goes downhill from there...;)
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 15 Jan 2010 @ 6:34

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