Despite the decision of China to pull the 2D version of James Cameron’s mega-blockbuster hit Avatar from theaters last week, Avatar has become the all-time highest grossing title worldwide. The previous record holder was another Cameron film, the 11 Academy Award winning epic Titanic, released in 1997. Given the Oscar buzz for Avatar over the past few weeks, it will be interesting to see if Cameron can beat Cameron yet again. But we’ll all have to wait until February 2nd to see if that is remotely possible.
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Projections 
arieljadler Said:
on February 3, 2010 at 6:49 pm
It will be interesting to see how Hollywood responds to the fact that Avatar has officially become the highest grossing film of all time. James Cameron, notorious for going over budget and having problems during production of his films, has now proven twice that big budget equals big box office.
I think that we’re going to see a major spike in production of high concept 3D movies in the next few years. It was Cameron’s goal to revolutionize the industry with the 3D visuals in Avatar, and it looks like he has done just that. Yet Cameron is one of the best at combining compelling stories and characters with wowing visuals and imagery; it will be difficult for many other 3D films to come even remotely close to replicating what Avatar did at the box office.
That being said, 3D looks amazing unlike anything I have ever seen before. But I don’t thing we’ll see the day where comedies and dramas will be made in 3D… there is simply no benefit of watching two characters speak to each other while wearing a set of silly yellow glasses if there we are not going to see any thrilling action. Mark my words: 3D films will only be made within the sci-fi, action/thriller, and animation genres.
Another con to the so-called 3D “revolution” is that many viewers find themselves with headaches at various points throughout 3D movies. If all movies are going to be made in 3D it’s only a matter of time before going to the movies becomes a headache. Pun intended.
Part of my major statement will discuss this very matter; what we as consumers of mass entertainment (in particular cinema) are paying for, and what we enjoy the most. Is it Michael Bay’s huge explosions or the nuanced stories of critically acclaimed auteurs such as Darren Aronofsky and Paul Thomas Anderson. Check out greenlightblog.wordpress.com for the latest in showbiz.
cagutos Said:
on April 28, 2010 at 7:55 am
Obviously by now we’ve see the outcome of Cameron’s win-win situation. It raises the point that the last commenter made, how Avatar capitalized hugely on the booming interest in 3d technology. Part of the reason why Avatar was able to gross so much domestic and international dollars so fast was because of the hefty sticker price people had to pay in order to watch the movie in 3d, which was its most profitable format. If the movie came at the time when 3d wasn’t so big, there might not have been the same result. However, I’m not trying to downplay Avatar’s massive box office success. I think it will just interesting to see if 3d movies actually have longevity in the market or if they are just another burn-out fad that movie lovers get bored of.