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Avatar’ Starts Production Today; $1 Billion Budget

J

jett

D-Member
Avatar, the most forgettable movie of all-time.

*consistently gets huge threads every time there's even a whiff of news around here*
 
A

Anth0ny

Member
GhaleonEB said:
The first film topped $1B in 3 weeks, off a $77m opening weekend in the US. The sequels are going to open higher.
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I actually don't think it'll open higher in a bunch of territories. And if it does, it'll be front loaded.

The Alice in Wonderland sequel didn't open higher than the original, that's for sure.

Also... Star Wars to Empire anyone? The fanfare and box office phenomenon of Avatar was as close to a modern day Star Wars as I could imagine. Doesn't necessarily mean the sequel will top the original "event" film at the box office, or even come close.

jett said:
Avatar, the most forgettable movie of all-time.

*consistently gets huge threads every time there's even a whiff of news around here*
Click to expand...

it's mostly us box office nerds posting "does anyone still give a shit about avatar?" though. the highest grossing film of all time is always going to get interest and attention. I don't think it has anything to do with the movie/universe/plot/characters itself, though. which is... bizarre :p
 
I

ISOM

Member
DeathyBoy said:
Like people lost enthusiasm after Titanic?

The King didn't make a film for a decade post Titanic. And he made a billion plus. I think it's fair to say you don't bet against Cameron.
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I wasn't aware that the Titanic had 4 sequels and they each did a billion. Like your post has nothing to do with what I posted.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
"But if Avatar is so lame, why do threads about Avatar always sprawl out to such ridiculous lengths?"

Well...

Bobby Roberts said:
Avatar threads almost immediately derail because the movie itself isn't the most compelling topic of conversation, it seems. People who like it would rather talk about (and minimize/mock/put down) the people who don't. People who don't like it would rather try to make the people who do like it feel minimized/duped/suckered somehow.

The shit becomes very quickly partisan in a way that doesn't even happen in the superhero discussions (which were long ago split down brand/party lines in some sort of perverse generational pro-wrestling work that has since become a shoot), and I think it's because a fair amount of the people who keep coming into these threads to talk about this film and its (presumed) sequels aren't really interested in talking about the film. Myself included, admittedly.

The thing that most intrigues me is the potential box-office. There's a basic curiosity as to just what new weird direction Cameron is going to steer his tightly bunched bundle of movie fetishes (because he's obviously completely off-the-fuckin-chain now) but what interests me isn't the storytelling, really. It's people-watching. How will they respond? WHY? How much will they spend on it. Will they regret that expenditure? How fast will they throw money at it? How long? What weird pop-culture quirks are we going to discover in response to this thing?

That sorta shit fascinates me - more than the film itself ever has. And so I tend to look at the film from those other angles as opposed to the primary one: How it works/doesn't, and how that makes me feel.

It really does seem like even on the part of people who do like the film, what's more fascinating isn't the film, it's the way it can be used to bolster the weird "Cult of Cameron" thing that is maybe semi-facetious (worked into a shoot, brother), or its opposite number.

The most interesting thing about Avatar is the way people use Avatar. Cameron included.
Click to expand...
 
Z

zsynqx

Member
llien said:
Welp, 150-200 is not that far from 250 to be news worthy, in my opinion.
Anyhow:

wlf29f0.png
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Spectre? Jesus
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
I just, you know, like the movie. Visually gorgeous, great music, with some of Cameron's best action, and good characters (Quaritch and Ney'tiri in particular, but I maintain that Worthington is underrated in it).

Add in the box office intrigue and the epic dev cycles and tech for the first film and its sequels and the shit is just fascinating. That and Cameron is my favorite director, so I just want more from him.
 
M

MoonsaultSlayer

Member
jett said:
p.s. Naughty Dog exclusively hand animated facial animation until Uncharted 4.
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I know this, but the idea of "performance capture" is more than just a camera aimed at the face. Animation has been doing that for even longer.

But the idea of acting in a set with mo-cap suits and props as if on a stage or real set is performance capture. The Apes movies would have done it without Avatar.
 
T

THE GUY

Banned
Looking forward to it. There are very few blockbusters I enjoyed more than Avatar since 2008. Only Mad Max and the Nolan movies come to mind. Nobody quite does spectacle like James Cameron. And this time, I will catch it in theaters.
 
B

Bobby Roberts

Banned
mckmas8808 said:
But what about the people that legit liked the movie and are interested in our Cameron will open the world up for the 2nd one?
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What about 'em? I didn't say they didn't exist. I explained why the threads tend to balloon up to

(checks thread stats)

Eleven pages for a budget report.

You're not being erased or anything (I like the movie too). I'm specifically addressing the question (which is often asked as part of that partisan nature I called out in the post you're responding to) as to why the threads tend to blow up, and I find it doesn't have much to do with the quality of the movie at all, or even people's general thoughts on the movie as a movie.
 
T

THE GUY

Banned
x-Lundz-x said:
The first sequel will make back the entire budget of all 4 film's. Cameron ain't sweating anything.
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I could see it happening if it's received well.

$500+ million domestic
$700 million ROW
$1 billion China

It'd be most of the way there.

I'm just glad to see he's filming them all together. It means no long waits. We get a bunch of Cameron movies on a pretty regular schedule. Last time that was the case was his initial run from the 80s-90s.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
I've never once doubted Cameron, but 5 high-quality films in the same franchise is not easy to do. It's been done almost never.

I can't wait for him to lay my fears to rest.

Xe4 said:
I have no idea why Avatar, of all the dudes projects, is the one he came to obsess over. I'm sure they'll be at least decent and have cool CGI. Plus I'm glad he's following his passion. I doubt we'll ever see something on the level of the original in terms of box office performance though.
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He's always wanted his own Star Wars. Even before Star Wars. It's just that he was never in the position to go forward with a fully-crafted sci-fi universe until he made Avatar. It also has a very wholesome message behind it which suits James Cameron the scientist/activist as much as it does James Cameron the filmmaker.

So now he's addicted to Avatar.
 
F

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
Veitsev said:
Anyone really excited for a Jurassic Park sequel 14 years after the last one?

*Jurassic World takes home 1.6B WW*

Anyone really excited for a Star Wars sequel 10 years after the last one?

*Force Awakens takes home 2B WW and is the highest grossing US film of all time*

Anyone really excited for a live action Beauty and the Beast remake 26 years after the last one?

*Beauty and the Beast takes home 1.26B WW*

Anyone really excited for a Toy Story sequel 11 years after the last one?

*Toy Story 3 takes home 1B WW*

Anyone really interested in a Finding Nemo sequel 13 years after the last one?

*Finding Dory takes home 1B WW*

Anyone really interested in a LOTR prequel trilogy 9 years after the last one

*Each Hobbit film makes 2.9B WW*
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I think it must be genetic that the current “young” generation thinks that time stopped when their generation experienced something.

What I mean is that the 1 year olds from 10 years ago will be 12 or so by the time Avatar 2 hits theaters. They may have finally seen the original and fell in love with it, and will be excited as fuck for a new movie in the series. Not to mention the older Avatar fans that loved the first one and wanted to see it. For every body that left the franchise because they didn’t like the original movie, I guarantee there are two or three even younger people, or people new to the franchise as a whole that will be eager to fill that gap.

Not to mention if the trailer for Avatar 2 drops jaws, hype will be off the charts.

What I’m trying to say is that this shit isn’t always about you and your bubble. For every one thing you may hate or despise, there are hundreds of people that love it, especially when it comes to subjective entertainment. The original Avatar was a monster success. At the very least, the first sequel will be a huge success as well, and depending on how genuinely good it is, the next sequel will do well too. That’s how these things work.
 
Pesmerga00

Pesmerga00

Member
I don't get the hate. It was a comfy movie you could watch with any friends, or family. The universal appeal was obvious. For multiple films the budget is not that outrageous. It will make the bil back without question.
 
T

titiklabingapat

Member
I'm actually kinda happy they are doing the LOTR type of filming all of them at the same time. Makes the whole thing an experience instead of being just straight up sequels right after the other that feel more self contained.
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
MoonsaultSlayer said:
I said this in an old thread but I can't wait to see Pandora's ocean life and you know Cameron has big ideas for that.
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Cameron and WETA have spent years inventing underwater performance capture for a reason.

It's impressive to think that scene with Jake floating down the river int he first film was accomplished by rolling him on a desk chair lol.
 
M

MoonsaultSlayer

Member
SCULLIBUNDO said:
Cameron and WETA have spent years inventing underwater performance capture for a reason.

It's impressive to think that scene with Jake floating down the river int he first film was accomplished by rolling him on a desk chair lol.
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Wow. I hadn't been following the behind the scenes but I should get around to watching and rewatching some of the old BTS stuff. I have three versions of the film, I'm sure they exist.
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
MoonsaultSlayer said:
Wow. I hadn't been following the behind the scenes but I should get around to watching and rewatching some of the old BTS stuff. I have three versions of the film, I'm sure they exist.
Click to expand...
If you have the Avatar Extended Edition blu, there's literally hours worth of BTS stuff. Really fascinating stuff.
 
M

MoonsaultSlayer

Member
SCULLIBUNDO said:
If you have the Avatar Extended Edition blu, there's literally hours worth of BTS stuff. Really fascinating stuff.
Click to expand...
I do and probably have started to watch some of it years back. News of the films always gets me back in the mood which is why I finally purchased the 3D version (with Titanic 3D combo) for cheap a few months back. Always held off because the 3D alone was always pretty pricey in the NA so I couldn't pass up that UK combo deal.

So yeah, will definitely have to pop in those discs.
 
J

jett

D-Member
SCULLIBUNDO said:
Cameron and WETA have spent years inventing underwater performance capture for a reason.

It's impressive to think that scene with Jake floating down the river int he first film was accomplished by rolling him on a desk chair lol.
Click to expand...

It's definitely going to be interesting stuff. I'm not really sure why would you even need to capture performance actually underwater.. Maybe they'll also use that for antigravity scenes, if there are any. I actually wonder what are these movies are even going to be out. As much as I'm looking forward, I have to agree with people that I don't know where the story is supposed to go. If Earth strikes back at full force what are these loincloth-wearing simpletons supposed to do.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
jett said:
It's definitely going to be interesting stuff. I'm not really sure why would you even need to capture performance actually underwater.. Maybe they'll also use that for antigravity scenes, if there are any. I actually wonder what are these movies are even going to be out. As much as I'm looking forward, I have to agree with people that I don't know where the story is supposed to go. If Earth strikes back at full force what are these loincloth-wearing simpletons supposed to do.
Click to expand...

Jake has Aquaman powers that don't just work on fish.
And the blue guys can use Earth weapons.
They're also "very hard to kill".
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
Wow underwater performance capture? Thats awesome!
 
S

SCULLIBUNDO

Banned
jett said:
It's definitely going to be interesting stuff. I'm not really sure why would you even need to capture performance actually underwater.. Maybe they'll also use that for antigravity scenes, if there are any. I actually wonder what are these movies are even going to be out. As much as I'm looking forward, I have to agree with people that I don't know where the story is supposed to go. If Earth strikes back at full force what are these loincloth-wearing simpletons supposed to do.
Click to expand...
Well it depends on their aim in striking back. Cameron explained that the tech used by the RDA on Pandora in the first film was fairly rudimentary compared to what humanity actually has, since the electromagnetic fields on Pandora mess up their more advanced weaponry. He's also explained that they haven't just nuked the Na'vi, because it would render the minerals they've been trying to mine useless.
 
S

sappyday

Member
I hope there's a long gap between the story in the first one and the second one. Will feel a lot more natural since there's a huge gap in real life (11 years)
 
U

Unison

Member
MoonsaultSlayer said:
I said this in an old thread but I can't wait to see Pandora's ocean life and you know Cameron has big ideas for that.
Click to expand...

The Disneyworld 3D ride had some hints (e.g. a giant space whale) and it was undeniably impressive.

The overall look of the 3D ride (which I assume is on some level a preview of what to expect for the new movies) reminded me of Anthem, that new Bioware game but ten times more lush.
 
N

NCSOFT

Member
Dead said:
If you needed anymore evidence that slashfilm is the new dumpster fire of movie news blogs

http://www.slashfilm.com/avatar-sequel-budget/#more-443139

internet movie "journalism"
Click to expand...

What a horrible excuse of an article.
Even If Hollywood is now fulfilled with original ideas and imaginative and innovative blockbuster movies that push boundaries and create new cultural phenomenons, this blog post still shouldn't exist because Avatar is certainly a phenomenon in itself. but the fact that Hollywood is now exactly the opposite of that makes this even sadder.
 
J

JasoNsider

Member
CrunchyFrog said:
I genuinely don't understand his fascination with this particular film universe.
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I'm mostly with you on this. Then I stop and realize that if he built it then it's got to feel more natural for him. But as a general audience member? I honestly don't know why people would want sequels to a pretty bland, cliche sci fi story. Four of them, at that.

edit: for clarification: I loved the moviegoing experience of Avatar at opening day. But it was mostly dazzle of the new shiny tech.
 
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