Avatar: The Way of Water

[Captain Craig]

Film is now two weeks out.
At what point, if it is pre-selling well, would they promote that?
I seem to recall other films getting publicity surrounding their high pre-sales. Star Wars and some of the Marvel films come to mind.

[Tofali]

Publicizing pre-sales considering the themes of the franchise I'm guessing would be shooting themselves in the foot market-wise.

[Captain Craig]

Publicizing pre-sales considering the themes of the franchise I'm guessing would be shooting themselves in the foot market-wise.

I don't follow. Which theme(s) are you referring to as problematic to releasing pre-sales data?
War mongering?
Colonization?
Naturalists/Environmentalism?
White Savior?
Other? if so elaborate

[chicago_bastard]

Thing is this movie doesn't need record numbers in pre-sales and not even a huge opening weekend. Avatar was driven by casual moviegoers and this will be similar. The franchise doesn't have a big fanbase that will flood the theaters on opening weekend so I'm pretty sure its opening and performance in the following weeks will be closer to Top Gun: Maverick than to Spider-Man: No Way Home. A decent opening weekend followed by very strong holds legging out to a very high end result.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I don't follow. Which theme(s) are you referring to as problematic to releasing pre-sales data?
War mongering?
Colonization?
Naturalists/Environmentalism?
White Savior?
Other? if so elaborate

Environmentalism, I imagine.

"This movie is about the importance of the environment!" kinda clashes with "Look at all the money we made already!"

Not that there aren't other problematic tropes in play (like white savior)

[Kirby101]

Thing is this movie doesn't need record numbers in pre-sales and not even a huge opening weekend. Avatar was driven by casual moviegoers and this will be similar. The franchise doesn't have a big fanbase that will flood the theaters on opening weekend so I'm pretty sure its opening and performance in the following weeks will be closer to Top Gun: Maverick than to Spider-Man: No Way Home. A decent opening weekend followed by very strong holds legging out to a very high end result.

More to this. Will people like the movie. The first one had such legs because it was a visually spectacular experience and people came out of it and told others how amazing it was. They went back because they enjoyed the movie was so cool to watch. Will the same thing happen now? I am sure Cameron upped the ante with everything, as he did with Terminator 2. But it is hard to predict audience reactions. I would have guessed that Top Gun Maverick would have been a hit, but not the phenomenal hit it was. That was because of audience reaction, not pre-release hype.
Those who only saw the first movie on TV and criticize it based on the plot or script have no idea what made the movie a smash hit. They might have just as well read the synopsis in IMDB and said it stunk.

[Gaastra]

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/a...ce-1235451389/

First reactions are out. Bad news is some are saying story is "paper thin" (so the first movie) however they ARE saying the 3-d effects are incredible and breathtaking and characters are likable!

So even with weaker story people really enjoyed the film.

So, #AvatarTheWayOfWater: Liked it, didn't love it. The good news is that 3D is good again (yay!), and the action is pretty incredible (especially in the final act). But many of the storylines feel like they have to stop and start, and the high frame rate was hit & miss for me.

Avatar: The Way of Water is a never-ending visual spectacle. It’s a better, more complex story than the first with solid emotion but the characters could grow a bit more. It’s definitely long, running on incredible visuals & techniques which are 3D’s best.

I saw you #AvatarTheWayOfWater - if you think you've seen #Avatar think again. Only repeat from the OG is that 'never experienced anything like it' awe. Better than 1st? Easily. The 3D water world & creatures are so surreal it is downright moving. There's a major Titanic homage.

Have now seen #Avatar twice and am overwhelmed by both its technical mastery and unexpectedly intimate emotional scope. Yes the world is expanded and sequels teased but the characters are most important. Cameron is in top form, especially in final act. Good to have him back.

Unsurprisingly, #AvatarTheWayOfWater is a visual masterpiece with rich use of 3D and breathtaking vistas. It does suffer from a thin story and too many characters to juggle, yet James Cameron pulls it together for an extraordinary final act full of emotion and thrilling action.

James Cameron once again shows filmmakers how it’s done. I’ve said it a thousand times. Never doubt him. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is how you do epic blockbuster-ing. Emotional, visceral, and as big as movies get.

So, recap. Incredible 3-d effects. Fun characters. Thin plot. Sounds like the first with better effects.

[Stick Figure]

I couldn’t watch the first movie so won’t watch this one. I just couldn’t take a movie with all weird looking alien characters. Just not my thing. I’m sure it will a quality film but I doubt it would hold my interest.

[Gaastra]

Watched one review and he gushed over the 3-d and effects the whole review than says "as for the plot--well its nothing groundbreaking or new at all. Might bother some people but not me" than goes back to the effects. Ironic he loved the film.

[basbash99]

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/a...ce-1235451389/

First reactions are out. Bad news is some are saying story is "paper thin" (so the first movie) however they ARE saying the 3-d effects are incredible and breathtaking and characters are likable!

So even with weaker story people really enjoyed the film.



So, recap. Incredible 3-d effects. Fun characters. Thin plot. Sounds like the first with better effects.

I would mostly be interested in hearing from folks who found the 1st film underwhelming - if they view this as a big improvement, then I might be tempted to go see it.

If the characters are likeable that alone would be a big change from the 1st film for me - i can barely remember the characters at all. And imo the mcu shows that likeable characters can go a long way towards making up for a mediocre or unoriginal plot/story

[Gaastra]

Guardian just gave the film a bad review. Called it "a soggy mess." So, it has its first big bad review.

[Gaastra]

Some are now saying it has too much plot and it its bogged down needing 20min trimmed. Wait that just the opposite of "thin plot". Is it thin or too much plot? It can't be both! So yeah. Early reaction just got confusing. Beats me at this point.

With that said i do expect this to do well. Keep in mind james films tend to do "ok" opening weekend but have great legs like top gun 2 did.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I would mostly be interested in hearing from folks who found the 1st film underwhelming - if they view this as a big improvement, then I might be tempted to go see it.

If the characters are likeable that alone would be a big change from the 1st film for me - i can barely remember the characters at all. And imo the mcu shows that likeable characters can go a long way towards making up for a mediocre or unoriginal plot/story

I think people all too often overlook how the MCU offers diverse characters as their protagonists, and lets us see through their eyes.

A CEO trying to better himself, a weak kid from Brooklyn just trying to serve his country, a God prince, etc.

Sully is the 10,192 military character to go rogue. Been there, done that, a dozen times this year

[Gaastra]

China that has been under bad covid restrictions has just opened up. The battlecry there--"lets go to the movies!" China is hitting theatres hard, and the box office is ruled by anime films one piece red and detective conan bride of Halloween in the top 2 for weeks! (I'm so jealous at that!)

Just in time for avatar 2! China pre ticket sales are at $15m so far and expected to do incredible in china! In other words, disney is going to have a good day! Avatar 2 could be one of the biggest American openings in china if covid does not get worse and relock things again!

https://www.reddit.com/r/boxoffice/c...el_avatar_the/

[Valentis]

Some are now saying it has too much plot and it its bogged down needing 20min trimmed. Wait that just the opposite of "thin plot". Is it thin or too much plot? It can't be both! So yeah. Early reaction just got confusing. Beats me at this point.

With that said i do expect this to do well. Keep in mind james films tend to do "ok" opening weekend but have great legs like top gun 2 did.

There looks to be some kind of wanabee forced negative news for way of water? Fed by possible MCU Fans? Nonsense, it won't work. Way of Water is already a big true critical darling.

National board of review top 10 film
AFI 10 film

Golden Globes are laughable and not credible anymore but Cameron and the movie just picked up nominations for directing and picture.

Avatar 2 is going to be a big hit and will be received much better than the first film. Can it break 3 billion? I am not sure but I will not be surprised if it flies past the first film.