comment #1

D.Z. says ...

That doesn't bode well for Avatar...

comment #2

Caustic712 says ...

"That doesn't bode well for Avatar... "

I am calling this as a lock for 2008's Best Non Sequitur.

comment #3

D.Z. says ...

Caustic: Avatar=new Jimmy Cameron movie from the director of Titanic.

comment #4

Caustic712 says ...

I agree with your second statement. Could you please elaborate on your first?

comment #5

D.Z. says ...

They were the same deo which mad Titanic a hit, so it appears they've moved on since then.

comment #6

Arran says ...

Move along, Caustic...do not look it directly in the eye or attempt to engage it in conversation. It is mad.

comment #7

Caustic712 says ...

IGN's description of AVATAR (which may be as erroneous as anyone else's):

"Reportedly follows "a paralyzed former marine who undergoes an experiment to exist as an avatar, another version of himself. The avatar is not paralyzed, but is an alien — 10 feet tall and blue." The film "pits a human army against an alien army on a distant planet, using live actors and digital technology to make a large cast of virtual creatures who convey emotion as authentically as humans."

--------------------------

Jim, Jim, the young chicks aren't into this any more. Sure, you got away with the exact same thing on TITANIC -- they ate it up! Heck, they even set a record on Super Bowl weekend in '98 -- in its sixth week of release!

But that was then, and this is now, Jim. The young girls, they grow up. These kids today, they like singing pictures. Look, this girlie here just beat your sixth-weekend number in her first week of release! I've never seen such a thing!

So we need ideas! How are we going to save this picture! What's that, Daniel? A musical? Yes! That could work! THE DANCING AVATAR! We get Timberlake and this Montana girl to do the voices and the motion capture! Daniel, you're a genius! You've saved the studio! Cigars for everyone!

comment #8

Josh Massey says ...

Do not feed the crazy.

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

Caustic: You make fun of me now, but why would they give him a $200 million budget, again, if they weren't hoping he could cross-over like last time?

comment #10

Josh Massey says ...

They're giving Hal Hartley $200 million budgets these days.

comment #11

Caustic712 says ...

Exactly, Josh.

If the question is whether AVATAR will recoup its investment, who knows? But given Cameron's record at creating stories with groundbreaking FX that people want to see, he's got a shot; he's certainly earned my trust. And unless this turns out to be the FINAL FANTASY II -- not impossible, but not that likely -- he'll get a lot of theatrical business to check out the 3D, and he'll sell a lot of Blu-Rays.

Is it as likely to connect with the same audience, or as large an audience, as TITANIC? I'd say no. But did anyone working on it or investing in it expect the Tiger Beat crowd to put posters of a 10-foot blue alien on their wall? I'm guessing no. (And yes, this is a fair answer to the "Titanic demo has moved on" theory.)
The young girls and their moms might not line up for repeat business, but the young boys and their dads probably will.

And at any rate, you don't have to make TITANIC money to make money. Please keep that in mind for the inevitable "who cares if it made $2 billion worldwide? after prints and advertising...", uh, discussion.

comment #12

Chris Willman says ...

Mystery of the weekend: how they actually managed to sell 4.6 million dollars' worth of tickets to "Over Her Dead Body."

comment #13

Terry McCarty says ...

Chris Willman wrote:
Mystery of the weekend: how they actually managed to sell 4.6 million dollars' worth of tickets to "Over Her Dead Body."

Assuming that Paul Rudd has some fans who will see him in anything.

comment #14

Terry McCarty says ...

Is anyone else wondering if Viacom/Paramount/Nickelodeon are talking to Polly Draper and Michael Wolff about NAKED BROTHERS BAND 3-D?

comment #15

D.Z. says ...

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20174698,00.html

comment #16

Nick Rogers says ...

Saw "Strange Wilderness" today. I'm convinced it was funded on a dare between Fred Wolf and Adam Sandler to see just what sort of unwatchable, mercilessly unfunny, brain-numbing shit Sandler could slap his name on and (eventually) get to a theater. Sample bit: Ernest Borgnine knocking on a door, Steve Zahn saying "Nobody's home." Ernest Borgnine enters, says: "You know that the problem when you say that nobody's home is that you know the person is there. Otherwise, who would have yelled 'Nobody's home.' "
I only wish I were joking.

comment #17

Webster says ...

Just wondering: When is the last time that women starred in the top four films at the weekend box office?

comment #18

Undercover Brother says ...

Please be sure to note that the dreaded "Montana" did charge 2 to 3 times as much for a normal movie ticket. Here in KY the going rate was $15 a pop. That's what I heard when I bought my $6.25 ticket to "Rambo." I'd have paid $62500 to see all those soccer Mom's and Daddies girls I saw hearded into the Montana theater watch Stallone's meatgrinder movie by mistake.

comment #19

ROTC says ...

Not only was Hannah Montana #1 this weekend but it wouldn't surprise me one bit if it occupies that top slot next weekend as well. I saw it today with my 6-year-old daughter, and most of the girls in the theatre were going absolutely nuts - singing along, jumping up and down, and dancing near their seats. If exhibitors would drop the high ticket prices (even if that meant losing the needless 3-D), this movie might do truly awe-inspiring, unprecedented repeat business with young girls. FWIW, this is the first movie my young daughter has ever demanded to see again in a theatre before it comes out on DVD.

As for adult viewers, while nobody is going to confuse it with Stop Making Sense, my wife and I found the movie surprisingly tolerable. Miley Cyrus is a genuinely natural performer, not to mention a show-biz progeny who doesn't grate much on the nerves. I hope she really is as smart as she seems, that she doesn't go all Britney in five years, and that I someday figure out how to get my daughter to stop watching every episode of her show a bazillion times in endless rotation on the Disney Channel.

comment #20

cute4u23 says ...

Hannah is single now. I saw her profile on millionaire dating site http://WealthyRomance.com last week. I am wondering what kind of relationship she is looking for on that site.

comment #21

nakedmanatee says ...

Really, Hannah Montana is single? Hmmm, I wonder how much of that 29 mil was from dirty old men hoping to see Hannah's tiny lil' boobies thrust in their faces 3-D style?

Forget Avatar, this doesn't bode well for U23D. It's going to be really embarrasing for Bono and crew to get pwned by Hannah Montana.

comment #22

Kim Voynar says ...

Terry,

I don't know about the Naked Brothers, but you can bet someone at Disney has Ortega working on more Jonas Brothers action, if the ear-splitting squeals from the girlies every time they came on screen is any indication.

comment #23

Kim Voynar says ...

Terry,

I don't know about the Naked Brothers, but you can bet someone at Disney is working on more Jonas Brothers action, if the ear-splitting squeals from the girlies every time they came on screen is any indication.

comment #24

Doug says ...

The success of this movie will re-ignite talk of having different ticket prices for different movies. Not surprisingly, I think Disney's Robert Iger is a proponent of this idea. It does make sense. Wouldn't most people who want to see "Indiana Jones..." and "The Dark Knight" in theaters pay $20 to see them? At least during the first week or two?