A2 WEEKEND THREAD | 134.1M DOM OW | Thurs 17m / Fri 36m / Sat 45m / Sun 36m

[TwoMisfits]

T-Mobile is gonna try to save Christmas, although not with a great special, but with any special that may move uncertain folks to buy movie tickets.

 

Next Tuesday, 12/20/22, they will offer all of their subscribers $5 off + no Atom ticket fees to see Whitney's movie (I thought it was any, but now I see it may be directed)...maybe this helps, but I think a generic one would have helped Puss and Avatar more b/c I'd have immediately bought for Puss and probably actually thought about Avatar, since I get multiple codes b/c I have multiple phones...but I'll still probably pass on Whitney...

Edited December 15, 2022 by TwoMisfits

[DAJK]

So Avatar 1 revisiting after 10+ years. I don’t know what people’s problem with this movie is. It’s a lot of fun! Sure, there was 20 minutes or so when he was getting to know the Nav’i where I thought it dragged, but for a 2.5 hour movie to have 2 hours of it keeping me fully engaged, that’s pretty good.

[vafrow]

27 minutes ago, Eric The Last Airbender said:

I know it's early, and I do feel we might have to change our expectations on box office on what is a "big hit" after this year. Like we have to come to terms that streaming has caused the box office to likely decline big time the same way it did to TV ratings and album sales (inb4 "but Top Gun/Spider-Man tho").

 

HOWEVER, I do think the advertising campaign is to blame here. It was everywhere, but pretty much all the trailers consisted of "wow, Pandora sure is pretty", and nothing else in terms of story or character that would get people invested. And granted that was the same pull for the first movie, but that just made this new movie look like more of the same with nothing else to look forward to. Which is fine if you're already an Avatar fan who was excited from the word "go", and obviously there's a lot of thoese guys. But if you only saw Avatar once or twice back in '09, even if you liked that experience in '09, the ads don't give you this big hook that makes this stand out as something special. And yeah, add on the fact everybody knows it will be on Disney+ in a couple months, and I feel there's not really something for a casual fan to get invested in. Could be wrong, will probably leg out like crazy, idk idk idk, please don't yell at me

 

It's been so bizarre how little they've shared about the plot.

 

I understand that the biggest selling feature is the experience overall, but, given most people can't recall any plot specifics of the first, you're banking on a lot of goodwill from a 13 year old movie.

 

I saw the rerelease in September, and the post credit clip was a cool scene, but had zero context. 

 

I know die hards will probably hate spoilers, but, this did need a trailer that explains to people what is happening. When is this set? Who are the returning characters. 

 

Like you though, I also might just be missing something, and Disney has a plan for this to leg out like crazy again, but, so much has changed from 13 years ago as well. I also think the awards dialogue around this will be very different, as the big populist movie in awards conversation is going to be Top Gun, not this. Avatar in 2009 was in the awards dialogue a lot, to the point that its losses at the Oscars was a surprise. 

 

It's going to need to build momentum differently than last time.

[OncomingStorm93]

IMO the trailers focusing on tone and emotion over plot was the right way to go.

[JustLurking]

I liked the trailers but I was also always going to see this so I'm probably not the right guy to say if it was the right approach.

[CaptainJackSparrow]

I didn't like that the trailers didn't show any of the plot, but oh well. I hope this is a huge hit. Both for Cameron, and for Alita....

 

Also, I love the thread title 

Edited December 15, 2022 by CaptainJackSparrow

[Dragoncaine]

3 minutes ago, JustLurking said:

I liked the trailers but I was also always going to see this so I'm probably not the right guy to say if it was the right approach.

Same here. All three trailers were great for me and very evocative, but that's not going to work for everyone I guess. This is going to be a very fascinating run to track. I'm still as excited as ever to see it tomorrow.

[daftcat]

First teaser was great with its slow build, ethereal music and flowy, dream-like editing. Subsequent two trailers just weren't that impactful - I enjoyed them as someone already invested, but I doubt they would've grabbed me emotionally had I not been. They were clearly going for the tone-poem vibe, but for my money the art of the trailer just isn't what it used to be. As someone that's seen the film, I think they could've shown a bit more of the story without sacrificing the goose bumps. 

 

Not that it really matters for this IP.

Edited December 15, 2022 by daftcat

[Cmasterclay]

Very clear to me why Avatar might ever so slightly disappoint some expectations this weekend - it's so fucking long. I think it had presale rush from dedicated watchers, but when casual fans thought about getting tickets in the last couple days, they saw that runtime and got spooked. People gotta make time to shop!

That week after Christmas could be extra big for this very reason.

[filmlover]

Just now, Cmasterclay said:

Very clear to me why Avatar might ever so slightly disappoint some expectations this weekend - it's so fucking long. I think it had presale rush from dedicated watchers, but when casual fans thought about getting tickets in the last couple days, they saw that runtime and got spooked. People gotta make time to shop!

That week after Christmas could be extra big for this very reason.

That's what I've been thinking too. I've been watching sales for Christmas Day for this + next weekend's trio of openers and plenty of shows in the afternoon and the early evening have already sold a bunch of seats.

[Grebacio]

16 hours ago, Eric The Last Airbender said:

Place your bets, party people.

We kinda have 1 page of streaming being evil, only need 2 more

[SchumacherFTW]

Love that without a single domestic number we're nearly at 10 pages already

[XXR & Friends]

Just now, SchumacherFTW said:

Love that without a single domestic number we're nearly at 10 pages already

 

I mean, the movie thread went 1200+ pages before we even got a trailer so this was expected right? 🤣

[ThomasNicole]

 

 

 

[XXR & Friends]

1 minute ago, ThomasNicole said:

 

 

 

 

I've always wondered what @IronJimbo looks like 

[SchumacherFTW]

5 minutes ago, XXR Tulkun Rider said:

 

I mean, the movie thread went 1200+ pages before we even got a trailer so this was expected right? 🤣

That took 84 years though

[stuart360]

3 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

 

 

 

That guy is going to take the gross over 3bil, calling it now.

[Eric S'ennui]

5 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

 

 

 

The emphasis of Neytiri on that truck is very...interesting

[JustLurking]

7 minutes ago, ThomasNicole said:

 

 

 

I'm going to address the elephant in the room: did he also paint down there?

[XXR & Friends]

1 minute ago, JustLurking said:

I'm going to address the elephant in the room: did he also paint down there?