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'Avatar' opening hindered by weather, explodes overseas
From Los Angeles Times' Company Town
Heavy snowfall on the East Coast slowed 20th Century Fox's high-stakes opening of "Avatar" to a solid but not spectacular studio-estimated $73 million this weekend in the U.S. and Canada, while international ticket sales totaled a spectacular $159.2 million.
Domestic grosses for the James Cameron-directed 3-D tent-pole movie declined from Friday to Saturday, an unusual occurrence for a movie without popular midnight screenings or poor word of mouth, and a sign of just how badly it was hurt by the fact that potential audiences from Washington, D.C., to New England stayed home because of the dangerous roads and frigid weather.
Although $73 million is nothing for Fox to get upset about, it's a bit below the December 2007 release many in the industry were comparing it to, "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith," which opened to $77.2 million. The movie probably would have beaten that mark if not for the weather.
Still, there's every reason to believe "Avatar" is on its way to a long and successful run at the box office, as audiences gave it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore. Along with overwhelmingly positive reviews, that means word of mouth should be excellent. Next weekend will likely be particularly lucrative for "Avatar" and the entire industry as Christmas falls on a Friday, setting up what should be a monstrous three days of moviegoing.
The ultimate profitability of the movie, however, will depend even more on its performance overseas, where "Avatar" is off to a phenomenal start. Its $159.2-million gross from 106 foreign countries is the seventh-biggest foreign launch of all time and the second-biggest outside of the summer movie season, just barely behind last month's "2012." The Roland Emmerich-directed disaster movie opened with $165 million and has gone on to collect more than $600 million overseas, and "Avatar" could easily do the same.
Check out full box office rankings gallery below and read the full story at the LA Times' Company Town blog.
Heavy snowfall on the East Coast slowed 20th Century Fox's high-stakes opening of "Avatar" to a solid but not spectacular studio-estimated $73 million this weekend in the U.S. and Canada, while international ticket sales totaled a spectacular $159.2 million.
Domestic grosses for the James Cameron-directed 3-D tent-pole movie declined from Friday to Saturday, an unusual occurrence for a movie without popular midnight screenings or poor word of mouth, and a sign of just how badly it was hurt by the fact that potential audiences from Washington, D.C., to New England stayed home because of the dangerous roads and frigid weather.
Although $73 million is nothing for Fox to get upset about, it's a bit below the December 2007 release many in the industry were comparing it to, "I Am Legend" starring Will Smith," which opened to $77.2 million. The movie probably would have beaten that mark if not for the weather.
Still, there's every reason to believe "Avatar" is on its way to a long and successful run at the box office, as audiences gave it an average grade of A, according to market research firm CinemaScore. Along with overwhelmingly positive reviews, that means word of mouth should be excellent. Next weekend will likely be particularly lucrative for "Avatar" and the entire industry as Christmas falls on a Friday, setting up what should be a monstrous three days of moviegoing.
The ultimate profitability of the movie, however, will depend even more on its performance overseas, where "Avatar" is off to a phenomenal start. Its $159.2-million gross from 106 foreign countries is the seventh-biggest foreign launch of all time and the second-biggest outside of the summer movie season, just barely behind last month's "2012." The Roland Emmerich-directed disaster movie opened with $165 million and has gone on to collect more than $600 million overseas, and "Avatar" could easily do the same.
Check out full box office rankings gallery below and read the full story at the LA Times' Company Town blog.
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Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
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White Guilt Fantasy
Avatar is a classic scenario you've seen in Hollywood epics from Dances With Wolves, Dune, District 9 and The Last Samurai, where a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member.
If we think of Avatar and its ilk as white fantasies about race, what kinds of patterns do we see emerging in these fantasies?
A white man who was one of the oppressors switches sides at the last minute, assimilating into the alien culture and becoming its savior.
These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations.
The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed.
This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.
I woulda seen it but the weather was terrible.
Well it was sunny and 60s here, but keep telling yourself that Fox. Is it supposed to mean something that Avatar is a huge hit on the international market? Anything can do well overseas! Those people love Jerry Lee Lewis and David Hasselhoff. No standards.
So sorry Steve REal. Go home and I'll make sure your welfare cheque makes it to you...even trade right?
I definitely think the weather played a factor in the opening weekend. It just means the movie will have more legs now though. It's got great reviews on www.moviereviewintelligence.com, an A from Cinema Score, and now those who wanted to see it but couldn't because of the weather will check it out soon.
I have no interest in seeing this movie. Hehe, "Dances with Smurfs" =)
Steve...so what if it assuage white guilt? Does that make it a bad movie? Did you see it?
The film is awesome! I loved it! find out the show timings of the film on FindNearYou.com and don`t miss it!
Sorry Steve but I have no "white guilt" for I have never owned a slave so I have nothing to feel guilty about. Although I bet Al Sharpton would love to here you crying about the white man still keeping you down...
I thought the movie was executed well. People keep saying the plot was ridiculous but I saw a story in it. It's a epic movie to say the least. The concept, the graphics, and the movie overall was brilliant. It's a movie of our time.