Avatar SOOO MUCH MONEY

It has made a lot of money, but yet people seem to over look the fact that its ticket sales are not as big as portrayed. Most to of the income is from 3Dticket sales and IMAX.

So in the US we are looking at around 27% of it money being extra charges not extra people. that brings us back down to around $400,000 million. That is around 55 million tickets domestically.

Some reference points. Est. Tickets sold (millions)

200 - Gone with the wind
178 - Star Wars
141 - E.T.
128 - Titanic
86 - Jurassic Park
84 - Phantom Menace (star wars episode 1)
70 - Ghostbusters
64 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead mans Chest
61 - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Now if avatar continues its weekly declines it will likely make in the range of 800 - 900 million dollars domestically. meaning it should land around a total of 85 million tickets sold. Hopefully boxofficemojo will adjust their number properly as currently they have Dark Knight and this movie calculated using average ticket price for the year across all movies, instead of deducting the amounts for hyper inflated ticket prices for IMAX and 3D which gives the illusion of more people going to see it then actually are.

Also for the many non US citizen who wonder why I only included the US numbers it is because it is impossible to compare worldwide numbers with past numbers as the number of people with access to theaters has skyrocketed over the last 50 years and continues to spread. Combine that with the difficulty of finding out average ticket price and you have far to many variables to make an even remotely accurate comparison to a movie made just 10 years ago let alone 40 years ago.

So In conclusion yes Avatar is going to be the highest grossing movie ever unless we adjust for price inflation in which case it might break the top ten, but you should be very very sad. Why?

Because the collective planet has just voted to tell hollywood make more 3D movie and maybe even only release in 3D so I can pay you an extra 5 dollars. Well I guess as video game fans we should only be glad as now the price difference between games and movies is going down. 3D is a gimmick it does not improve the story or change the camera angle it gives a little depth perception. I mean if you close one eye does the room your in change? No. The truth is what you see on screen you can not see in the real world because everything on screen is in focus blurred or not. The world we live in look much more flat then you think. Put your hand in front of your face half way between the monitor and you. Look at your hand then at the monitor the one you are not focused on has a double image. This does not happen in 3D cinema, which is why you notice it is 3D. I think 3D has its place but reality is it is useless and will be shoved down our throats so hollywood/tv manufactures can make more money. That's the real trick convincing everyone they must pay a premium.

Did color television improve the story or camera angles ? No it only helped James Bond find out which one the red wire is... does anybody really need HD television or surround sound ? Has anything movies have done really improved storyline or character development from classic theatre ? Does it really have to ? 99% of movies and television don´t even really have any... because its entertainment... if your gonna spent 300$ million or more on a movie you have to reach mass appeal to make your money back... and since regular special effects are old news you have to give people something new to be bored with soon... and lets face it people want new expecive shit to buy... you don´t have to trick most people into doing that... you could write "expencive shit you don´t need" on a box and people would still buy it only to impress their friends, family and feel supperior to their neighbours and slighly less wealthy people who don´t have it...
also who cares how many people go and see a movie ? what does that really say about it ? ...if bill gates was the only one who wanted to see avatar and he was willing to play 400 million for it that would be fine with me...
its not about art its about entertainment... consumption... upgrading... getting an achievement... going to the next level... giving the old hamster wheel another spin... finding the cheese in the maze... having that short burst of dopamine to keep you motivated in a world void of meaning...

I'd agree, except for the fact that here 3d tickets' price difference is negligible, it's barely more than a dollar more, and in the end, for example, going to see a 3d movie in Wed is cheaper than going to a regular movie any other day, therefore I don't see a spike in price to be noticeable at any rate, so I'm in for more 3d movies since it doesn't change much my spending

zexen wrote:I'd agree, except for the fact that here 3d tickets' price difference is negligible, it's barely more than a dollar more, and in the end, for example, going to see a 3d movie in Wed is cheaper than going to a regular movie any other day, therefore I don't see a spike in price to be noticeable at any rate, so I'm in for more 3d movies since it doesn't change much my spending

But that isn't everywhere. I payed $3 to see avatar, but I could have payed $9 to see it in 3D...

dsister wrote:

zexen wrote:I'd agree, except for the fact that here 3d tickets' price difference is negligible, it's barely more than a dollar more, and in the end, for example, going to see a 3d movie in Wed is cheaper than going to a regular movie any other day, therefore I don't see a spike in price to be noticeable at any rate, so I'm in for more 3d movies since it doesn't change much my spending

But that isn't everywhere. I payed $3 to see avatar, but I could have payed $9 to see it in 3D...

Well, you're being ripped off

I would like to agree with you since I'm not a big fan of 3D but the logic you're used doesn't fit really well, If Avatar was a bad movie that only sold because it is 3D I would understand what you're saying, but it is not.. Like I said I'm not fan of 3D and I'm sure that I would've enjoyed it more without 3D, but I can't deny that some parts were amazing, they felt so real that I was like holy crap! I couldn't have been surprised without the 3D, I would've just enjoyed the movie.

The message given with that isn't that people just want to be rip-off for something that isn't really necessary, that can't be it since there are plenty of 3D movies that sucked and aren't breaking records (ex. Ice Age 3), the message is that people want a combination of different thing that surprise them and make them enjoy a movie.

Will there be studios that think what you said and release crappy 3D movies? Yeah
Will that mean all of them will be successful? No.. The will be some lucky ones, though.

I don't see how the number of people who saw the movie matters either..
Their goal was to make a movie who was successful and they did it.. I don't see how it matters that most of their revenue came from a more expensive version.. That's like saying that when FF or DQ revenue numbers are stated, people should notice that those games are more expensive in Japan..

Also.. I don't get rip off for 3D movies either lol

Ticket sales is a better indicator of a movie's popularity. I have how people argue over all time profit. You can't even compare the dollar today to that of 20 years ago. Avatar is popular, but its not the best movie ever; of course I should see it before I decide.

Mako wrote:Ticket sales is a better indicator of a movie's popularity. I have how people argue over all time profit. You can't even compare the dollar today to that of 20 years ago. Avatar is popular, but its not the best movie ever; of course I should see it before I decide.

Well.. I havent seen anybody to claim that Avatar is the best movie ever or the most popular one..

^^ Its most popular with the people who are making the money...

@Dudes 1st statement

I agree with everything you say, when HD first came out and even today I still spend time proving to people that when you sit to far away from the TV you are literally incapable of seeing the difference in resolution especially between 720p and 1080p. (NOTE I am very pro wide screen)

@Dude and Falcon

The number of people seeing the movie was really directed at the kids running up and down my block screaming how Avatar is the most popular movie ever. So sorry, I know it really has no use in relation to the 3D or anything else. I guess my point was it's not bigger then Star Wars.

@ Falcon

Yes there where 2 scenes in Avatar in which I thought that's pretty awesome. Of-course there was also 90% of the movie in which I thought I bet this looks better in 2D.

The message is clear. Hollywood makes a movie and requires whatever % of theaters to show it in 3D. (I only had the choice of 3D last time I went) People say hey I heard the movie was good and I won't hold back on forking up extra money because I'm A ok with getting screwed, Microsoft has made me accustom to it. What I am saying is this is not about 3D. This is about seeing weather or not they can get away with forcing you to pay more money by limiting your options.

My problem is those glasses cost 10 cents and while the projector technology is more the cost is actually distributed across all movies for the theaters. I just want fair ticket pricing and sufficient options. If you are going to offer closed caption version you should offer a 2d version. Hell some 10% our society can't see the 3D anyways.