New 'Avatar' Is Long and Kid Friendly

 

After waiting 13 years for its sequel, the original Avatar remains the highest grossing film of all time at $2.92 billion.

By now, anyone with even a passing interest in the cinema know that Avatar sequel Avatar: The Way of Water is going to be released this December. 

Rated a kid-friendly PG-13, The Way of Water will be screened in both 2D and 3D and has a run time of 3+ hours. It will be the biggest box office earner in 2022 and hopefully will exceed the gross of the first Avatar.

Disney obtained the Avatar franchise after it acquired 20th Century Fox, in a deal that finalized in 2019. This film, which includes a lot of underwater scenes, will open worldwide on December 16th.

Cameron shot all 4 sequels simultaneously

James Cameron brought back all of the stars from the first Avatar (Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Michelle Rodriquez) who will be joined by newcomers Vin Diesel and Kate Winslet.

In addition to Way of Water, three more films will be screened each with standalone plots but centered around the main theme of the franchise. The cost of all five films is estimated at over $1.2 billion.

Avatar 3 will be released next December, with #4 in 2026 and #5 in 2028. As Cameron shot all of the 4 sequels simultaneously the main cast members remain the same throughout all of the 5 films.

 I, for one, can't wait to see it even with its 3+ hour run time.

Win Some Lose Some

Moviemaking has always been a crapshoot. There's no guarantee that a great film with a star director and A-list cast will ensure a 'bonkers' box office.

A star-studded cast doesn't guarantee box office

Take the recent case of the film 'Amsterdam". The Disney/New Regency production opened over the October 7th weekend on 3,000 U.S. screens and grossed only $6.4 million. At a cost of $80 million to produce and another $70 million to promote the film worldwide, the studios stand to lose at least $100 million or more when all is said and done.

'Amsterdam' was dubbed "a movie for older adults", unfortunately this group was a no-show and those that did gave it a poor rating (only a 33% Rotten Tomatoes).

The director, David Russell, is one of the best Hollywood has to offer, and the cast was first-rate: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Robert DeNiro, Chris Rock, Rami Malek, even Taylor Swift couldn't bolster a draw. 

This all goes back to my last post on CMG regarding what the moviegoing public wants to view at cinemas - action, fantasy, and escapism. 

Disney had no comment on the film's lackluster performance. I may go view it but then again, I may wait until its streamed.

Marty Scorsese, You're Biting the Hand That Feeds You!

 Martin Scorsese thinks superhero and monster mega hit movies are bad for the cinema... that's his opinion. He's dead wrong! 

Scorsese at this year's NY Film Fest

He's wrong because the cinema is what consumers make it. Without moviegoers flocking to the mega-hit films there would be no cinema, no actors, no directors, no Marty Scorsese, no Hollywood, no NY Film Festival.

News flash Marty, everything in the world runs on dollars...everything! Saying, the "cinema is devalued, demeaned, belittled from all sides, not necessarily the business side but certainly the art".  But who defines what "art" is. Certainly not Marty and his cinema purist minions. All film is art, be it 'Taxi Driver" or 'Spiderman".

The whole of the theatrical side of cinema is based on popcorn, if you want to be technical. Without concession profits there would be no movie theaters, they would never be able to operate on their share of the box office take. And, without the mega superhero films (with few exceptions, ala "Top Gun") there would be very few butts in seats at cinemas.

"As a filmmaker, and as a person who can't imagine life without cinema, I always find it really insulting" said Marty regarding the current box office which is skewed toward Marvel and DC Comic flix. 

Funny, but although Marty says he loves the cinema his last major project, 'The Irishman' premiered on Netflix and his next endeavor, 'Killers of the Flower Moon' will debut on Apple TV. So much for Marty's love of the movie theater.

It should be noted that superhero portrayer, Keanu Reeves (Matrix, and the John Wick franchises) just severed ties with Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' project. This would have been Reeves' first, made for TV role, and apparently his wasn't keen on the idea.

The cinema is a reflection of society. It always has been. Right now, where we're at, society wants escapism not films based upon morals, human frailties, or heavy, emotional ladened plots and characters. They want simple fantasy and escape from the burdens of current life, and that's just what the most profitable and well-attended films provide.

In thinking about it, Scorsese really doesn't have real 'love' for the cinema that he professes because if he did, he would know that society needs what currently fills cinema - movies that offer fantasy through superheroes and surreal worlds. For without these films there would be no cinema.