AVATAR hits $250 million, $726 million worldwide
Avatar didn’t hit $250 million domestically more quickly than any other movie. It’s only No. 6 on the list. But James Cameron’s picture, which crossed the quarter billion mark yesterday, is showing staying power. Only The Dark Knight had better daily Tuesday gross, but that was on The Dark Knight‘s first Tuesday out. Yesterday, Avatar hit $18.3 million on its second Tuesday–up from $16.1 million the week before. Add on the $476 million the picture made overseas (already more than The Dark Knight) and you have a bona fide international sensation that has grossed more than $726 million in just 12 days. By the end of Avatar‘s run, Cameron will undoubtedly be able to claim the first AND second highest grossing films in motion picture history. Right now, I’m not even going to think about which one will be...
Read MoreAFI ‘Moments of Significance’ 2009
Why the AFI is still picking moments of significance is beyond me. After its irrelevant AFI Awards list, you’d think they’d spend more time tweaking that process then telling people things they already know–especially when the first moment listed is for a film that didn’t appear on its top ten list. Oh well. Here’s what they had to say. From the AFI release: AFI MOMENTS OF SIGNIFICANCE AVATAR – JAMES CAMERON’S MILEPOST IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE ART FORM James Cameron’s pioneering effort to unleash the human imagination was fully realized in 2009 with the release of AVATAR, a film that firmly established itself as a landmark in the way stories are told. With an army of technological wizards at his side, writer/director/producer/co-editor Cameron called upon the forces of art and technology to create new tools for storytelling that...
Read MoreUPDATE: Big Blue – AVATAR takes in $236.5 million worldwide, breaks December opening record
While the U.S. box office may have been down because of the blizzard on the East Coast, Avatar managed to pull in $232 million worldwide, a record for an original work. The $73 million domestic gross combined with $159 million overseas means that Avatar is now a certified blockbuster. Word of mouth is going to be strong with this one. Combine that with some of the biggest metros in the U.S. remaining untapped markets and the coming wave of holiday moviegoers, and you get a movie that’s going to be huge for weeks to come. UPDATE: Looks like the snow didn’t keep away as many moviegoers as 2oth Century Fox expected. The final domestic tally for Avatar‘s opening weekend is $77.3 million, according to Variety. That’s just enough to give Avatar the biggest December opening of all-time, ahead of...
Read MoreOscar Predictions updated – Now it feels like a race
In August, if you would have asked Oscarwatchers whether or not Inglourious Basterds would be a frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar, you would have heard a chorus of “NOs.” What a difference a week makes. After BFCA, HFPA and most shockingly the SAG all nominated Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece for their top honor, it’s safe to say Inglourious Basterds is solidly in the Best Picture race. The Hurt Locker, too, is sweeping nearly every critics group award, making the film a lock for a Best Picture nomination and putting Kathryn Bigelow out in front in Best Director race. Then there’s Up in the Air, a film that seems destined to win Best Picture but curiously missed out on an Ensemble nomination from the SAG. All its primaries grabbed SAG nominations, but its weak supporting cast (compared to the nominated...
Read MoreAVATAR movie review
Avatar (2009)–**** Avatar goes far beyond simple entertainment, transporting audiences to an exotic new world in a bold new way. It’s a film that must be seen in 3D. Yes, if you see Avatar in 3D, you’ll have experienced something that’s not just groundbreaking, but could very well change the way you watch movies. Of course that’s what James Cameron set out to do, wasn’t it? He’s been talking about it for years. That this early proponent of digital 3D cinema succeeds here is astonishing enough. But that he does it in such a glorious fashion is a testament to his skill as a filmmaker and to the power of the medium. From the moment we first see the bioluminescent Pandoran landscape, we’re willing to go anywhere Cameron, this master of film entertainment, wants to take us. We also...
Read MoreBFCA nominees – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, NINE lead with 10 nods each
After yesterday’s ridiculous AFI list, it’s nice to see that the Broadcast Film Critics Association is in tune with both Oscar and the culture at large. The BFCA is still a critics group, of course. I wouldn’t bet on seeing all ten of their nominees in the Best Picture race. But any group that doesn’t honor The Hangover automatically carries more clout in the long run. BEST PICTURE Nominees: • Avatar • An Education • The Hurt Locker • Inglourious Basterds • Invictus • Nine • Precious • A Serious Man • Up • Up In The Air Full list after the jump. BEST ACTOR Nominees: • Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart • George Clooney – Up In The Air • Colin Firth – A Single Man • Morgan Freeman – Invictus • Viggo Mortensen – The Road •...
Read MoreGet Email Updates
