Avatar (the movie) and its Sequels

[CaptainAmerica]

This is such a fascinating study in "social media is not real life." If you spend 10 minutes on Twitter, you'll see all things Avatar get ignored or dragged through the mud. "It's just stupid blue smurf people; it's only about the FX; it has no cultural impact; where are all the memes; I don't know anyone who has actually seen this, etc." The moderators of r/movies have virtually banned discussion of the film.

Meanwhile in my office (mostly married, 30+, suburban/exurban/rural), the question is not "have you seen Avatar," the question is "how many times have you seen Avatar, and in what format(s)?"

 

[Ghost93]

It's official —Avatar: The Way of Water is the highest-grossing movie worldwide of 2022! https://www.theguardian.com/film/20...kes-top-gun-maverick-at-the-global-box-office

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This is such a fascinating study in "social media is not real life." If you spend 10 minutes on Twitter, you'll see all things Avatar get ignored or dragged through the mud. "It's just stupid blue smurf people; it's only about the FX; it has no cultural impact; where are all the memes; I don't know anyone who has actually seen this, etc." The moderators of r/movies have literally banned discussion of the film.

Meanwhile in my office (mostly married, 30+, suburban/exurban/rural), the question is not "have you seen Avatar," the question is "how many times have you seen Avatar, and in what format(s)?"

r/movie has an ongoing discussion of the film so not sure where that's coming from.

It is odd that the "no one likes Avatar" crowd is doubling down. Some people just make a point of being opposed whenever something is super popular.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

r/movie has an ongoing discussion of the film so not sure where that's coming from.

Maybe not "banned" but "hugely suppressed." The moderators have admitted it. They're blocking Avatar posts and sending everyone to r/Avatar instead. (I have modified my post to remove the incorrect use of the word "literally.")

Their homepage right now...

- Beau is Afraid
- Murder Mystery 2
- Renfield Poster
- Renfield Trailer
- The War of the Rohirrim
- Dave Bautista
- Michael Giacchino
- Emily
- "Biggest editing/production mistake that made it into the final cut?"
- Road Trip (2000)
- I appreciate actors with imperfect teet.
- Arachnophobia remake
- Descent
- Evil Dead Rise
- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
- Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom
- M3Gan
- Gran Turismo
- You People
- College flicks (genre)
- The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995)
- Don't Breath 2
- The Menu
- Romeo & Juliet (1968)
- What are some of your best/memorable cinematic experiences?
- 'Avatar' Sequel tops 'Top Gun: Maverick' for $1.5 Billion This Week
- Ryan Gosling and Jake Gyllenhaal - Career Choices
- Long shot, but requesting help indentifying [sic] 1920s silent nitrate film found in Ireland

So according to the r/movies algorithm, Avatar is the 27th most important discussion in film right now.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Maybe not "banned" but "hugely suppressed." The moderators have admitted it. They're blocking Avatar posts and sending everyone to r/Avatar instead. (I have modified my post to remove the incorrect use of the word "literally.")

Their homepage right now...

- Beau is Afraid
- Murder Mystery 2
- Renfield Poster
- Renfield Trailer
- The War of the Rohirrim
- Dave Bautista
- Michael Giacchino
- Emily
- "Biggest editing/production mistake that made it into the final cut?"
- Road Trip (2000)
- I appreciate actors with imperfect teet.
- Arachnophobia remake
- Descent
- Evil Dead Rise
- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
- Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom
- M3Gan
- Gran Turismo
- You People
- College flicks (genre)
- The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1995)
- Don't Breath 2
- The Menu
- Romeo & Juliet (1968)
- What are some of your best/memorable cinematic experiences?
- 'Avatar' Sequel tops 'Top Gun: Maverick' for $1.5 Billion This Week
- Ryan Gosling and Jake Gyllenhaal - Career Choices
- Long shot, but requesting help indentifying [sic] 1920s silent nitrate film found in Ireland

So according to the r/movies algorithm, Avatar is the 27th most important discussion in film right now.

Maybe they just don't want 100 threads about the same movie.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

 

[michmousefan]

This might not be the place to discuss, but given the success of the movie (and that the other sequels look like they may indeed be a thing), how might this translate to Pandora at DAK? Will they add that third attraction, or will Imagineering simply change out the film in the FOP attraction... or, given the current financial outlook, will they do nothing?

 

[Phroobar]

This might not be the place to discuss, but given the success of the movie (and that the other sequels look like they may indeed be a thing), how might this translate to Pandora at DAK? Will they add that third attraction, or will Imagineering simply change out the film in the FOP attraction... or, given the current financial outlook, will they do nothing?

They will do nothing but try to hype the land a little.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

This might not be the place to discuss, but given the success of the movie (and that the other sequels look like they may indeed be a thing), how might this translate to Pandora at DAK? Will they add that third attraction, or will Imagineering simply change out the film in the FOP attraction... or, given the current financial outlook, will they do nothing?

Animal Kingdom is probably "next in line" once Epcot is done and Tron is open, but Dinoland is ahead of Pandora expansion.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

This might not be the place to discuss, but given the success of the movie (and that the other sequels look like they may indeed be a thing), how might this translate to Pandora at DAK? Will they add that third attraction, or will Imagineering simply change out the film in the FOP attraction... or, given the current financial outlook, will they do nothing?

There's a thread https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/potential-updates-to-avatar-flight-of-passage.979658/

My guess is nothing in the short term. Avatar being back in the public consciousness means it will drive interest in the land with Disney having to do nothing.

Long term, now that we can say Avatar isn't a one-and-done franchise it's hard to imagine they won't do something.

A simple thing would be an Avatar film replacing It's Tough to be a Bug. Avatar is a unique theater experience that can never be replicated at home. It would be great to be able to experience it again in that format via a permanent show.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Interestingly, A:WoW is way ahead of Maverick internationally, which is why it has surpassed Maverick on the global cumes. But, domestically, it's still significantly behind Maverick. But that may change...

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Interestingly, A:WoW is way ahead of Maverick internationally, which is why it has surpassed Maverick on the global cumes. But, domestically, it's still significantly behind Maverick. But that may change...

View attachment 690186

Avatar 2 made $10,544,729 on Tuesday. Comparatively Avatar made $7,327,233 on the first Tuesday in January when it released.

Avatar 2 might just be on track to outperform the original.

 

[doctornick]

Animal Kingdom is probably "next in line" once Epcot is done and Tron is open, but Dinoland is ahead of Pandora expansion.

Why not both?

Replace Dinorama with Moana, add a third ride to Pandora. This can be worked on at the same time too.

 

[Disney Analyst]

THURSDAY UPDATE: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, as expected (see below), has exceeded $1.5B globally with Wednesday’s figures included. The running total through yesterday is $1,516.5M, meaning that it has overtaken Top Gun: Maverick as the No. 1 worldwide release of 2022. What’s more, it is now the No. 10 biggest movie ever globally.

The 20th Century Studios/Disney sci-fi epic has also in the past day crossed Furious 7 worldwide. Today, it will pass The Avengers to claim the No. 9 spot on the all-time global chart.

Internationally, it is the No. 9 biggest movie ever, and, in Europe, is the highest-grosser of the pandemic era (having passed Spider-Man: No Way Home). It is also the No. 5 release of all time for the region.

Midweeks continue to be strong for the Na’vi with Wednesday adding $26.4M from 52 overseas markets (-33% on last Wednesday).

Not included in totals above, Korea is at an estimated $79.6M cume through Thursday and China at an estimated $173M, with Maoyan upping its final projections to RMB 1.5B ($218M) in the market.

The Top 5 offshore markets to date through Wednesday are China ($168.6M), France ($96.1M), Korea ($78.2M), Germany ($76.5M) and the UK ($60.9M).

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Moves Up To No. 9 On All-Time Global Chart With $1.547B

Avatar: The Way of Water has jumped into the No. 9 slot with Thursday’s grosses included, overtaking 'The Avengers' with $1.547B worldwide

deadline.com

 

[Prince-1]

‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Moves Up To No. 9 On All-Time Global Chart With $1.547B

Avatar: The Way of Water has jumped into the No. 9 slot with Thursday’s grosses included, overtaking 'The Avengers' with $1.547B worldwide

deadline.com

The Avatar movies holds the record of being the only franchise to have two movies in the top 10 of all time. And part three comes out in 2024.

 

[LittleBuford]

What are people’s thoughts on the “no cultural impact” characterisation? It seemed a convincing enough claim after the first film, but the success of the second leads to wonder whether we were using the wrong criteria to measure impact (lack of memes, forgettability of the characters’ names, etc.). Or is it really possible for a movie—and now franchise—to do spectacularly well at the box office and then sort of fade into cultural oblivion until the next instalment comes along?

 

[Disney Analyst]

What are people’s thoughts on the “no cultural impact” characterisation? It seemed a convincing enough claim after the first film, but the success of the second leads to wonder whether we were using the wrong criteria to measure impact (lack of memes, forgettability of the characters’ names, etc.). Or is it really possible for a movie—and now franchise—to do spectacularly well at the box office and then sort of fade into cultural oblivion until the next instalment comes along?

I mean, I think it's impossible to state Avatar had no cultural impact, and I think those that did have particular biases against the film (now films).

Being the highest grossing film of all time is cultural impact. Having a highly regarded theme park experience built for Avatar is cultural impact. Lack of merchandise, spin-offs, or children's toys in stores does not = lack of cultural impact, which is what I think many tried to use as their metric or evidence.

It was a faulty claim.

 

[LittleBuford]

I mean, I think it's impossible to state Avatar had no cultural impact, and I think those that did have particular biases against the film (now films).

Being the highest grossing film of all time is cultural impact. Having a highly regarded theme park experience built for Avatar is cultural impact. Lack of merchandise, spin-offs, or children's toys in stores does not = lack of cultural impact, which is what I think many tried to use as their metric or evidence.

It was a faulty claim.

I’m not sure I agree that it was only the Avatar’s detractors who were behind the claim; it seemed to be a fairly widely held opinion, even among those who enjoyed the film. But I agree that the metrics people used have proved not to be all that revealing after all.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I’m not sure I agree that it was only the Avatar’s detractors who were behind the claim; it seemed to be a fairly widely held opinion, even among those who enjoyed the film. But I agree that the metrics people used have proved not to be all that revealing after all.

I guess it really depends on... each persons subjective opinion on what defines cultural impact, based on their own anecdotal lived experience.

I would argue tooth and nail that Lady Gaga has had significant cultural impact, and yet there will be people out there who disagree, never heard of her, think she's the devil, etc. etc.


In the end, you don't become and remain the highest grossing film of all time, without having had some sort of cultural impact.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

What are people’s thoughts on the “no cultural impact” characterisation? It seemed a convincing enough claim after the first film, but the success of the second leads to wonder whether we were using the wrong criteria to measure impact (lack of memes, forgettability of the characters’ names, etc.). Or is it really possible for a movie—and now franchise—to do spectacularly well at the box office and then sort of fade into cultural oblivion until the next instalment comes along?

There was obviously a vocal contingent who like to put down things that are popular, just to be contrarian, and that was certainly a rallying cry.

A movie doesn't become the highest grossing of all time without any impact or anyone not liking it. I enjoyed the first and watched it at home many times, but I won't deny it has a basic story and the runtime was a bit bloated.

So there's some truth to notion IMO. It's a movie series about spectacle first and foremost, with story and characters being less important. We talked about why it didn't have a blockbuster opening weekend, but it wasn't hard to get tickets, even for the "best" experiences. People weren't dying to see it the same way a Star Wars or Avengers movie is a draw.

I'll see part 3 because I know it will be another fun experience with a script good enough to hold my attention. Do I care what happens to what's his face or what's her face or what resource the humans will be after this time? Not so much. Avatarland wasn't a must see like Galaxy's Edge was. I doubt I'd read a tie-in novel.