I don't understand why people think Avatar was a freak accident. The film told a classic tale in a very original fashion. My kids and I saw it multiple times in different formats. We all loved it, and we wanted to go back to Pandora and visit again.
Avatar was not a freak accident. But it benefitted a lot from timing. It was the first movie of it's kind in the market. And while there have been plenty of other films flooding the 3-D market in the last year, no other film has done the 3-D or CGI as well.
If another movie came along today of equal quality to Avatar, it would not be the same event movie that Avatar was. Timing made Avatar a must-see event.
Multiple viewings are the key to the really big money in movies. TS3 had it. The Princess and the Frog didn't.
Repeat viewings are a big part of it. Also, Avatar was an event movie. If you didn't see it, you were missing out. Everyone was talking about it. No one felt compelled to see PatF. You could easily wait for it to come out on video.
(Disney has conditioned audiences to wait for video for their non-Pixar animated features. That will take some time to reverse.)
TRON has the makings, in my mind, of a smash.
The same ingredients that make it a potential smash also set it up to be a potential disappointment.
Everyone that I know of, of multiple ages, has it on their must list for the Christmas Season.
My anecdotal experience is the opposite of yours. No one I know personally considers Tron a must-see. I think most everyone I know will wait for it on video if they intend to see it at all unless it becomes an Avatar-style event.
I think it's missing key elements (like timing and James Cameron's magic touch) to become an Avatar-style event.
It's going to have a very big opening, and potentially could compete with HP as the film of the season.
It's going to have a big opening. It won't compete the Harry Potter. No way, no how. Harry Potter is an event. I don't even like the Harry Potter movies, but I'm thinking about seeing this one because it's going to be a big freaking deal.
Tron has got a good chance of being the second-biggest movie of the season. No chance of being number 1.
Unless it is an average film with little emotional impact.
My expectations, based on what I have heard from the previews, is that it will be exactly that.
Universal is looking to acquire the Theme Park Rights to Avatar
They sure are getting bold! Keep it up, Universal!
I understand why people think Avatar was a freak accident. The film told a tired, predictable tale in a very Transformers fashion. I saw it with my family one time in 3D format. We all hated it, and we wanted to go back to James' Cameron's house and tell him how much he sucks.
Backlash is an ugly thing. Avatar was by no means perfect story-telling. But it was the height of movie magic in some respects. There's no accounting for taste. But you have to have at least some respect for the technical expertise on display here. To dismiss Avatar completely says more about you as a viewer than it does about Avatar as a film.
With the exception of Tron and Toy Story 3, I think Disney has no idea how to market a film. There marketing is a joke, and until they can get a person who knows how, there movies will continue to fail. I mean a movie tagline of: "There's no such thing as no such thing." for the Sorcerers Apprentice? Are you kidding me, how is it people like this keep a job, they should gut the whole department.
I totally forgot about Sorcerer's Apprentice. The sad thing about that is that I hear the movie was actually pretty good.
I don't get it. The Disney marketing machine is a powerful one. I am amazed how well they milk every last cent out of franchises. But when it comes to marketing movies, they trip all over themselves.
