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‘Avatar’ becomes James Cameron’s second biggest hit behind ‘Titanic’
3 hours ago
| ReelLoop.com
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The mammoth-budgeted 3D sensation, Avatar, is director James Cameron’s second biggest hit behind the biggest earner of all time, 1997’s Titanic.
Avatar earned another $18.29 million on Tuesday, which pushes the film’s domestic total to a whopping $250.4 million after only 12 days at the box office. The $18.29 million is an increase over last Tuesday’s $16.1 million. Both numbers trail The Dark Knight’s $20.9 million on the all-time non-opening Tuesday list.
Overseas, Avatar has reached $476.2 million as of Dec. 29 for a worldwide total of a staggering $726.6 million. Cameron’s Titanic had a worldwide gross of $1.84 billion with $601 million coming from the United States.
James Cameron’s other top grossing films include Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, Aliens and The Abyss. It’s hard to tell just how successful Avatar really is when inflated ticket costs from IMAX and 3D sales are added in along with the movie playing on more
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- Reel Loop News Staff
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Monsters Vs. Aliens: James Cameron's Love/Hate Relationship with Technology
29 December 2009 8:52 AM, PST
| ifc.com
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[Major spoilers ahead for "Avatar" and other James Cameron films.]
Like all of James Cameron's six previous films, "Avatar" is a war of worlds both literal and figurative. Colonists from the planet Earth do battle with the native inhabitants of a moon named Pandora over the right to mine a rare and powerful mineral. Cameron casts the struggle as a conflict between the technological world (the humans and their advanced military) and the natural world (the natives, known as the Na'vi, who share a symbiotic relationship with their environment). Given that the humans are characterized as greedy and violent while the Na'vi are portrayed as caring and spiritual, it isn't particularly surprising that the movie ultimately treats the Na'vi as the heroes and the humans as villains. But it's a little curious when you consider that this condemnation of industrialization appears in a film made using some of the most cutting-edge moviemaking technology ever devised by man.
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- Matt Singer
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Cameron's Avatar: Jar Jar Binks Meets Pocahontas
24 December 2009 7:09 AM, PST
| Huffington Post
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"...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
~ Shakespeare, MacBeth, Act V, Scene V
James Cameron made two films that are high on my list of favorites: Terminator 2 and Aliens -- not least because powerful women are central to the stories (even though he gave them the most conservative and clichéd motivation for heroism: maternal protectiveness). He was a taut, visually inventive storyteller once. But all his films after The Abyss increasingly resemble the Hindenburg: bloated, self-indulgent, lacking originality and subtlety in all but F/X.
The latest iteration, Avatar, is the culmination of these traits and a poster boy of the industry's tendency to let CGI spectacle be the sole concern. A quarter of a billion dollars went into the film, the Gnp of a small country, yet they couldn't pay a decent Sf writer a paltry sum to
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- Athena Andreadis, Ph.D.
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Weekly Poll Results: Best James Cameron Movie
23 December 2009 9:44 AM, PST
| FilmJunk
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Last week we asked you what the best James Cameron movie is, and you guys responded with plenty of votes... the majority of them going to Terminator 2: Judgment Day! I think we all knew it was going to be a race between T2 and Aliens, but T2 won by a pretty large margin. Aliens was a distant second with 27% of the votes, followed by The Terminator and The Abyss. Surprisingly, Piranha 2 actually got more votes than True Lies, and unfortunately, not a single vote was cast for either of James Cameron's undersea documentaries. Come on, don't we have any lovers of sunken ships and strange fish out there? What do you think, should Avatar be higher on this list?
1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day -- 37.9%
2. Aliens -- 27.8%
3. The Terminator -- 8.1%
4. The Abyss -- 5.8%
5. Titanic -- 5.6%
5. Avatar -- 5.6%
7. Piranha 2 -- 3.7%
8. True Lies -- 3.5%
10. Ghosts of the Abyss -- 0%
10. Aliens of the Deep
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- Sean
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John Mayer, Michael Moore, Simon Pegg And Others Respond To 'Avatar' In This Twitter-Wood Early Edition
21 December 2009 12:00 PM, PST
| MTV Movies Blog
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As you all know quite well, "Avatar" hit theaters this weekend. And while celebrities have ways of finagling themselves tickets to official premieres -- I think there's a secret handshake or something -- plenty of them turned out to "slum it" with their adoring public for public screenings of the movie. Or at least, that's what it seems like based on the influx of tweets on our Twitter-Wood feed.
The tone has been mostly positive on the Hollywood insider front. Hell, last week superstar actor Ben Stiller appeared on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" with only one thing in mind: pimping James Cameron's sci-fi epic! "Oh, I'm here to talk about 'Avatar.'" he said. "I'm really excited about it, Conan. It's gonna be... it's just going to be an amazing movie." Hit the jump for more from celebs on "Avatar," fresh from the Twitter-Wood feed.
@johncmayer
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- Adam Rosenberg
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James Cameron Talks 'Avatar' Sequel Plans
21 December 2009 3:50 AM, PST
| MTV Movie News
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Director says films won't take nearly as long to make now that they have CG technology figured out.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Josh Horowitz
Photo: MTV News
"Aliens." "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." James Cameron knows how to make a sequel, revisiting fully created fictional worlds, taking what's already established and trying to outflank what came before. That's been the director's plan since embarking on his technology-revolutionizing quest to being "Avatar" to the big screen, and with the film's mammoth first weekend behind it, an alien love story sequel we almost certainly shall get. (If you haven't seen the film already, now would be a good time to stop reading, as spoilers abound below).
In a pre-opening discussion with MTV News, Cameron spoke at length about his plans for his burgeoning sci-fi franchise and where the story will pick up following the first film's game-changer of an ending: Jake
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'Avatar' Director James Cameron Talks Future Projects
20 December 2009 10:50 PM, PST
| MTV Movie News
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A manga movie? A superhero flick? Cameron discusses what he's got in the pipeline.
By Eric Ditzian
James Cameron
Photo: MTV News
The $73 million, blizzard-affected box office haul of "Avatar" has confirmed what we've long expected: James Cameron will get a chance to make a sequel to his alien-love-story-meets-kick-ass action flick. But it won't be the next film he takes on. What will? In numerous conversations, the director walked us through the projects he's contemplating with an eye toward what might be his next big-screen effort.
"Battle Angel Alita"
Cameron almost moved forward on this adaptation of Yukito Kishiro's popular manga instead of "Avatar," but ultimately chose to go with his big blue aliens — turns out that the "Avatar" practice could pay big "Battle Angel" dividends.
"Now we see it's good to have done 'Avatar' first before 'Battle Angel,' because the tricky scenes are where you're blending live-action photography,
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Weekend Box Office - Winter Holds Avatar to $73 Million Domestic; $232 Million Worldwide
20 December 2009 11:31 AM, PST
| Collider.com
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The huge, blue debut of James Cameron’s Avatar ran headlong into the huge, white debut of winter of yesterday, with much of the East Coast kept out of theatres by crazy bouts of snow. As a result, one of the most anticipated December debuts of the decade could only score the second best all-time numbers for the month with $73 million over three days reported from 3,457 theatres. Worldwide the news was much better for Avatar, with 20th Century Fox now estimating an impressive $158 million haul. That means Avatar has made $232 million worldwide in just a few days. Only three more weeks like that and this baby will be in the black! I mean, blue. Avatar will be in the blue.
Title
Weekend
Total
1
Avatar
$73,000,000
$73
2
The Princess & the Frog
$12,224,000
$44.7
3
The Blind Side
$10,030,000
$164.7
4
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
$7,000,000
$7
5
New Moon
$4,370,000
$274.5
6
Invictus
$4,170,000
$15.8
7
A Christmas Carol
$3,419,000
$130.7
8
Up in the Air
$3,100,000
$8.1
9
Brothers
$2,630,000
$22
10
Old Dogs
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- Nicole Pedersen
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Avatar -- movie review
19 December 2009 1:43 PM, PST
| Celebrity Bio Examiner
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It takes some mighty big balls to stand before tens of millions of television viewers, raise your Oscar-filled hands, and exclaim “I’m the King of the World!” James Cameron was quoting Titanic -- the film for which he had just won a record-tying 11 Academy Awards -- but still, no one has ever accused this man of overt humility. Yet after Titanic went on to earn $1.8 billion in global box office, perhaps the visionary filmmaker had earned the right to such a claim. His previous films, The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, and True Lies were all eye-popping, audience-pleasing, envelope-pushing, genre-defying blockbusters, each of which helped prepare him to make that little boat movie. So how does one top the most successful film of all time?
If you are James Cameron, and your visions are beyond what current effects-work can handle, you spend the next 12 years creating the technology to
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- Celebrity_Profile_Examiner
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Review: 'Avatar': The rumors are true, this movie is visually stunning
18 December 2009 3:29 PM, PST
| Denver Movies Examiner
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Easily one of the most hyped movies of the decade, James Cameron's Avatar is supposed to be a benchmark of innovation and special effects. It's supposed to be the movie that changes film forever, so the big question on everyone's mind is, is Avatar the heralded "game changer" that will set the bar for future effects-driven fare? Does it meet all those lofty expectations? Yes...to a point. Avatar is visually the most stunning film seen for quite some time and possibly ever. Thinking back to past films with groundbreaking effects, I find a fistful of James Cameron films like The Terminator, The Abyss and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, along with sporadic George Lucas features, which were all equally filmed in Real 3D (the cameras used on this production were specially designed). Cameron's Avatar mostly avoids 3D tricks like rolling logs towards audiences, spears thrown at you and lots
»
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Zoe Saldana's 'Avatar' Role Is Simply The Latest Of James Cameron's Powerful Leading Ladies
18 December 2009 3:00 PM, PST
| MTV Movies Blog
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»
As Neytiri, the Na'vi warrior woman that forges a bond with paraplegic marine Jake Sully in "Avatar," Zoe Saldana is the latest actress to transform herself into a powerful heroine at the hands of director James Cameron.
In fact, if there's one thing that Cameron excels at — other than groundbreaking visual effects, awe-inspiring stories and epically orchestrated action sequences, of course — it's his development of strong female characters.
While Neytiri is certainly one such character, she is merely the latest in a long line of brilliantly crafted women in Cameron's films. Here are some of the others. (click the image above the text to check out our James Cameron Heroines flipbook gallery!)
Ellen Ripley
Although not created by Cameron, the filmmaker took Sigourney Weaver's character of Ellen Ripley to new heights in "Aliens," the action-packed sequel to Ridley Scott's claustrophobic thriller, "Alien." Ripley went from being the survivor
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- Josh Wigler
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How Would The Na'vi Of 'Avatar' Stack Up Against James Cameron's Other Creatures?
18 December 2009 1:00 PM, PST
| MTV Movies Blog
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James Cameron is no stranger to creating new forms of menacing cinematic creatures, though he may have finally topped himself in "Avatar" with the Na'vi.
There is certainly no shortage of dangerous flora and fauna that exists on the mysterious world of Pandora, but it's the Na'vi that pose the biggest threat thanks to their intelligence, speed, size and several other factors. It also doesn't help that human marines can link their brains up with Avatar versions of the alien race, adding a whole new skill set to a certain breed of Na'vi warrior.
Still, it's hard to say whether or not the Na'vi could hold their own against some of Cameron's other creations. Since we aren't likely to ever witness these showdowns, let's settle for the next best thing — hypothetical cage matches!
Na'vi versus Terminators
The express purpose of a Terminator's existence is to kill anything in its
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- Josh Wigler
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'Avatar' Is A Giant Leap For Effects, Just Like Madonna, Michael Jackson And Korn
18 December 2009 8:59 AM, PST
| MTV Newsroom
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»
After years of hype and hundreds of millions of dollars spent, "Avatar" has finally hit theaters. The early buzz has been excellent, which bodes well for James Cameron's futuristic sci-fi allegory that takes place on a distant planet called Pandora. The film stars Sam Worthington as a paraplegic marine who goes on a special mission to the planet and finds his loyalties divided between science and the military.
But when you get right down to it, the story of "Avatar" is hardly the point. Cameron spent gobs of money on the look and effects of the film, most notably the blue, dreadlocked alien race called the Na'vi. When you include the intense battle sequences and the 3-D visuals, it adds up to one of the most jaw-dropping effects-based spectacles in cinema history.
"Avatar" is one of those ground-breaking moments, an event where the technology takes a giant leap forward and the game changes forever.
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- Kyle Anderson
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Review: ‘Avatar’ is amazing, even with a mediocre story
18 December 2009 6:35 AM, PST
| ReelLoop.com
| See recent Reel Loop news
»
Easily one of the most hyped movies of the decade, James Cameron’s Avatar is supposed to be a benchmark of innovation and special effects. It’s supposed to be the movie that changes film forever, so the big question on everyone’s mind is, is Avatar the heralded “game changer” that will set the bar for future effects-driven fare? Does it meet all those lofty expectations? Yes…to a point. Avatar is visually the most stunning film seen for quite some time and possibly ever. Thinking back to past films with groundbreaking effects, I find a fistful of James Cameron films like The Terminator, The Abyss and Terminator II: Judgment Day, along with sporadic George Lucas features, which were all equally filmed in Real 3D (the cameras used on this production were specially designed). Cameron’s Avatar mostly avoids 3D tricks like rolling logs towards audiences, spears thrown at
»
- Erik Buckman
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Movie Review - 'Avatar'
18 December 2009 2:44 AM, PST
| GetTheBigPicture.net
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Avatar
Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver
Directed by James Cameron
Rated PG-13
James Cameron is one of the few filmmakers who has the luxury not only of working at his own pace but also of waiting to work at his
own pace until the available technology catches up with his imagination. He has been afforded that luxury, of course, because of
Titanic, but Cameron's techno tinkering goes back years before that.
You can see his handiwork in a number of films; I like to point out The Abyss, for which Cameron and his brother invented new
underwater cameras, something they'd do again with the IMAX documentary, Ghosts of the Abyss.
But his new film, Avatar, is easily the most ambitious film he's ever made, which automatically qualifies it to be among the
most ambitious films anyone has ever made. That's the good news, or at least, it's part of the good news.
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- Colin Boyd
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David Thomson on James Cameron
17 December 2009 3:55 PM, PST
| The Guardian - Film News
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Is Avatar the film that will finally sink James Cameron? All signs point that way – but don't forget, this is the man who salvaged Titanic
Everyone thinks James Cameron is going down this time, as in Down, Down … Deep Down. Cameron included. So he has been laying off bets on himself: if the wondrous special effects prove less than wonderful, he says, then he wants Avatar, his new film, to be noted for its spiritual qualities. So the budget is estimated at $230m and the demented film world smiles in the glare of such numbers and contemplates Cameron's fall. (By the way, a film about Jim's demise would make its money back in southern California alone.)
His ruin has always been there for the begging. When he roared out on Oscar night, 1998, "I'm king of the world," as he clutched the Titanic Oscars, he was alluding to the way that in every film,
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- David Thomson
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The James Cameron DVD Collection (Titanic/Aliens/The Abyss)
17 December 2009 10:51 AM, PST
| DearCinema.com
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Rs 799.00
Shipping Time:
in 7 days
Shipping Region:
India
Shipping Cost:
Rs.35
Colour/B&W:
color
Censor Certification:
V/U
Promote to Dearcinema Homepage
: Titanic: Nothing on earth can rival the epic spectacle and breathtaking grandeur of Titanic. Winner of eleven Academy Awards® including Best Picture, this sweeping love story sailed into the hearts of moviegoers around the globe, ultimately emerging as the most popular motion picture of all time.
Aliens: The only survivor of the Nostromo’s deadly encounter with the alien, Ripley’s escape pod floats in space for 57 years. After being rescued, Ripley is stunned when her story is met with disbelief. Then all communication is lost with the colonists who’ve settled on the alien planet. When the Company asks Ripley to accompany a team of high-tech colonial Marines back to Lv-426, she refuses. But she ultimately realizes that the only way to banish
»
- NewsDesk
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How Avatar Happened: Lightcycles And Giant Lizards On The Path To Innovation
15 December 2009 10:30 PM, PST
| cinemablend.com
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Since talk of Avatar first began, it has been touted as the kind of groundbreaking cinematic experience that will change the future of filmmaking forever. Whether that is truth or the product of an out of control James Cameron ego has yet to be determined (any psychics out there?), but anyone who has already seen the film or was present for the 15-minute screening on Avatar Day can tell you that it is a step forward.
Avatar pushes computer graphics to the very edge of what's possible, particularly in IMAX 3D. Cameron's no stranger to game-changing special effects, with The Abyss he had a hand in creating first fully digital 3D water effect, in Terminator 2: Judgment Day he had the first CGI human character with realistic movement, and in Titanic he used the advanced the rendering of flowing water. Avatar may be another step, but before we take it,
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Buzz Break: All This Needs is Joan and the Accordion
15 December 2009 11:45 AM, PST
| Movieline
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· Why yes, that is Mad Men's Rich Sommer (dressed as a baby) standing with Weird Al Yankovic. And why wouldn't it be?
· Quentin Tarantino has begun listing his top movies of 2009, and sadly, there's not an Anything Else-level head scratcher among them.
· Calvin Klein wants to make musclebound Twilight actor Kellan Lutz its new, underwear-clad Mark Wahlberg.
· Here is your important IMDb comment thread of the day, concerning Mel Gibson's upcoming take on the British miniseries Edge of Darkness: "Will He Kiss His Daughter's Dildo in the Remake?"
· James Cameron almost died while making The Abyss, the new book The Futurist reveals. So take that, Ed Harris!
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Avatar Watch: James Cameron + Cast Interview
15 December 2009 4:19 AM, PST
| Atomic Popcorn
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Coming Soon has an interview with James Cameron, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and Sam Worthington about the film, which everyone who watches tv should be familiar with. Avatar opens this Thursday at 12:01 Am, and the building buzz spiked ever-so-slightly with yesterday’s Best Picture win at the New York Film Critics Online Awards.
Among the questions asked in the interview, conducted at a London press conference for the film, Cameron is asked what he feels the film loses upon being viewed in 2-D, and Worthington explains how he dealt with the pressure of being part of such a momentous undertaking.
Also, Cameron answers at least one interview question as follows:
Q: I think one of the most important things in the film is about seeing and the difference between truly seeing and just seeing. Can you talk about that aspect of the film?
Cameron: Ah, “The Abyss.” That is a great question…
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- Andrew Ford
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