Why has this sci-fi film about an alien people in peril hit such a global nerve, smashing all box-office records? |
| By now, surely, James Cameron must have cracked open the champagne. Or at
least taken a long draft from a bowl of “kava-like intoxicant”. Which,
according to the script of Avatar, is what the Na’vi, those tall blue
aliens, drink on Pandora, the Edenic planet in Cameron’s wondrously imagined
cinematic dream world. In the middle of last week, less than six weeks after
his 3-D sci-fi epic was first released, Avatar had smashed through all known
box-office records to become the biggest money-maker of all time. It has now
taken about $1.9 billion worldwide, beating the record set 12 years ago by
Titanic, Cameron’s previous feature film, which ended up with $1.84
billion. Even when inflation is taken into account, the speed at which
Avatar has achieved this is amazing.Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk |
James Cameron is king of the movie world once again after his 3D sci-fi
spectacular Avatar surpassed Titanic as the highest-grossing
movie worldwide.
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Avatar smashed Titanic’s record just weeks after it opened
around the world, and just days before the action-adventure film is expected
to pick up a bag of Oscar nominations.
Gregg Brilliant, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox — a sister company of News
Corporation, the parent company of The Times — said yesterday that
the worldwide box office total for Avatar stands at $1.859 billion
(£1.148 billion), beating the $1.843 billion made by Cameron’s romantic
drama Titanic in 1997-1998.
Avatar broke the seemingly insurmountable record set by Titanic
in just over six weeks, handing Cameron the remarkable feat of directing the
world’s two biggest movies of all time. Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk |
BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) –
A pair of box office sensations, “Avatar” and “The Hangover,” earned top film honors at the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday in a ceremony that took on a somber tone after the recent earthquake in Haiti. |
Action adventure “Avatar,” whose 3-D effects have wowed critics and fans and helped it earn $1.6 billion at global box offices, claimed best film drama and top director for “Titanic” filmmaker James Cameron. |
“3D is going to be the future,” Cameron told reporters backstage. “The one thing ‘Avatar’ could do because of its success — especially its critical success — is give permission to other filmmakers to think of 3D.” |
Among actors, Sandra Bullock earned the title of best film actress in a drama for football movie “The Blind Side,” while industry veteran Jeff Bridges was best dramatic actor for his turn as a down-and-out country singer in “Crazy Heart.” Read more at news.yahoo.com |
Avatar, the 3D film directed by James Cameron, is likely to become the second highest-grossing movie in history behind Titanic, having taken more than $1 billion (£621 million) worldwide in only three weeks. |
However, to the chagrin of Mr Cameron, the story of a disabled American soldier infiltrating a colony of blue aliens has proved as popular as an illegal download as with paying customers. He had predicted that the film’s 3D technology would deter online theft, but almost one million pirate copies were downloaded within seven days of its release — a record — according to figures seen by The Times. |
3-D cinema has finally come of age, it would seem. Avatar, James Cameron’s long-awaited special effects extravaganza, took $617 million (£385 million) globally in the ten days over Christmas. |
To enjoy 3-D effects, cinemagoers need special glasses. Some types work better than others in different cinemas. So far, three makes dominate but the 3-D spectacles market is becoming more hi-tech as the medium develops |
The 3-D cinema experience has come a long way since the universally derided Jaws 3-D movie in 1983, as Avatar led a series of box-office hits to push ticket sales to a record high over the Christmas weekend. |
It took an estimated $75 million in American and Canadian cinemas over the Christmas weekend alone, followed by Sherlock Holmes, the children’s film Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel and the romantic comedy, It’s Complicated, starring Meryl Streep. Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk |
Movie events don’t get bigger than this. James Cameron’s long-awaited follow-up to Titanic, the most successful film to date, is immense in every way: from the ambition and scope of its vision, to the ground-breaking technological wizardry, to the staggering size of its budget. |
Estimates of the production costs vary widely, but recent theories place Avatar alongside Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End as one of the most expensive films made. |
The success or failure of this high-stakes gamble of a movie will send seismic ripples throughout the film industry. If it tanks, Avatar could pose more of an immediate threat to the Hollywood infrastructure than the San Andreas Fault. |
Avatar is an overwhelming, immersive spectacle. The state-of-the-art 3D technology draws us in, but it is the vivid weirdness of Cameron’s luridly imagined tropical otherworld that keeps us fascinated. Read more at entertainment.timesonline.co.uk |
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