James Cameron's Avatar is a greta movie

It has a ways to go before it shows a profit. But it's already more than half way there. Between future earnings and discs (this could very well be a reason for people to get blu-ray) I expect it to double its earnings.

I just hope they don't make a sequel. It will be the Matrix all over again.

estimated money totals for Avatar per boxofficemojo.com=

Domestic: $212,268,000 34.5%
+ Foreign: $402,900,000 65.5%
= Worldwide: $615,168,000

through sunday dec.27

this is amazing! in yourface all you scifi nerd ragers who wanted it to fail because its scifi

who the hell is watching chimpmunks... i bet if you go into the crowd of that theatre you'll see the dumbest of dumb people

Avatar was easily the best big budget scifi movie I have EVER seen. It even compares favorably to most other great movies of the last 20 years! At the absolute TOTAL least it deserves an oscar for special effects , perhaps even best picture.

My kids and wife think I hate everything because I always have something to say about implausibility and plot holes. I had nothing to say about Avatar except that the theater was so crowded that it got hot in there toward the end. I'm sure that if I really think, I could find something wrong with the movie, but for now, no. It was just pure fantasy fun. It is not science fiction. If you look at it as fantasy, it is perfect.

I had plenty of questions, and we discussed the characters, but movies that make me think and wonder how characters did after the end are considered successes by me.

Go Chipette's!

Unsurprising about Avatar, but I'm glad people are seeing Sherlock Holmes, even if they are just going because Avatar screenings are sold out. The trailer made it look really stupid, but it's a surprisingly fun movie.

Jeff, here's a plot hole. What the [censored] does "unobtanium" do that makes it so [censored] valuable? A private company undertook a project so massive that it would take 15 years (6 years out 6 years back 3 years to mine enough stuff to justify sending it back) to show any returns much less a profit. Corporations must be a whole lot more patient in the future (not that that's a bad thing).

Now I know the mineral is a plot device, but I'd still like to know what it does to justify what the corp did.

Also when the hero finds out that he can have his mind transferred into his avatar body permanently, why doesn't he ask to do so that minute instead of waiting for the end? He didn't seem the type to try and hedge his bets so in case he failed he could go back to Earth in his human body.

Anyway, those aren't nearly big enough questions to detract from enjoying the movie.

Classy, the people going to see the
Chipmunks are small children and their
parents, not the "dumbest of dumb people",O.K.? That being said, I found Avatar
to be a pleasant surprise, and Sherlock Holmes a lot of fun. Maybe there's hope for
Hollywood yet.

Regarding Avatar plot holes - I just want to know what happened the following month when the Humans come back and just nuke the site from orbit. Methinks they didn't adequately address the Outside Context Problem.

why does Classy always have to insult everyone and everything he doesnt like ? ironically, he's as bad as these so called "Avatar haters", of which iv never really seen just a few people who dont care for the style and dont find it interesting which is hardly "idiotic" or "hateful".

@Alverant: unobtainium |ˌənəbˈtānēəm| (also unobtanium)
noun
a fictional material with supernatural properties : what type of cabling are we talking about, steel, composite, unobtainium?
• a material that it extremely rare and difficult to obtain.

In the movie they mention that unobtainium is a naturally occurring superconductor. On the companion website www.pandorapedia.com, they mention that a lot of the technology in the setting requires unobtainium, including the near FTL space flight. On the same site, they mention that the corporation that is conducting the operation on Pandora (RDA, Resources Development Administration) is operating under a charter from the governments on Earth that prohibits weapons of mass destruction and limits their military power.

Having seen both Avatar and Sherlock Holmes, I am pleased that I was neither surrounded by, nor annoyed by little kids in the theater. Maybe the movie going audience has finally figured out what movies are truly not intended for kids, including Avatar and Sherlock Holmes - they take them to see Chipmunks instead and hopefully, see a worthy movie in the process.

As for plot holes in Avatar, there are a few, but my only gripe is dumbing down of the point of the move: naming a planet Pandora (THAT certainly can't mean trouble) and calling ANY substance unobtainium. As much as Cameron IS a genius, he apprently thinks his audience includes the "dumbest of dumb people."

I took my kids (6.5 & 4) to see Avatar this weekend- they LOVED it, and so did I....I won't take them anywhere near a Chipmunks movie.

@village videot
nothing wrong with the name pandora whats ur problem.. what would u rather have? xenu? or typical alien name

as for unobtanium i read its running a scifi joke among scifi writers. cuz its unobtainable or something.

and those aint plot holes go read what a plot hole is. those are just complaints

greta movie
greta movie
greta movie
greta movie
greta movie

Oh, there will be a sequel. Cameron already said he outlined three films, and he used the excuse with the studio that they already spent the money developing the tech and building the world. Making more films in the already built computer generated environments will make the sequels cheaper. And since his legacy "The Terminator" is "played out" to quote him he will want to do this to build a new one. My only question is since there is no "Dances with Wolves II" where will he get the plot?

meh.... bring on a couple sequels, neytiri is beautiful i would rather see her in films than some sluts like lohan or paris.

I dont knowi if you guys noticed this but the all the avatars (well mostly Sully's) had all 5 fingers just like the humans but the Na'vi all had only 4 fingers.

The headsets in the choppers all had wires attached to them while the movie claims to transfer the human consciousness over vast distances to a totaly different body.

For a guy (James Cameroon) who prides himself on paying attention to detail, he sure missed out on some of the smaller ones.

@shabbz:

It makes perfect sense. It was, after all, said that avatars are not completely navi-like. They are made from both human, and navi dna, and the Navi recognize them as alien.

Those wires make perfect sense too. We also can send information wirelessly, but look how many pepople have cable internet.

The fact that something is technically possible doesn't mean that it is cheap or efficient.

And that is attention to detail. And i love it.

@shabbz: One of the big rules in tech is that if its cheaper to make something with a wire, you do it. If its cheaper to make three wireless avatars to work diplomacy with the natives than using expensive and heavy ordinance then you do it. Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should.

On the same token, why didn't everyone have one of those mech suits? Because its expensive...just because you have the tech doesn't mean you MUST always use it.

I just saw Avatar at my local IMAX theater today, fully expecting to be amazed at the effects, but utterly disappointed with the story. My wife and son both came with me (the kid got the tickets for me for Christmas, he rules!) and I fully expected that he would be oblivious to any problems with the story, while she would fall asleep about halfway through.

I could not have been more wrong.

Yes, the effects were absolutely incredible and a new standard for CG realism has been set, but more importantly, the movie was simply... good. Sure, it is a plot we've all seen before in books and movies like Dances With Wolves and The Last of the Mohicans, but it is a good plot; one that speaks to everyone like the traditional "hero's journey" type plot. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. My wife was nearly in tears by the end and heartily applauded along with the rest of the audience. My son was speechless, but once we had left the theater and he had some time to absorb what he had just seen, he wanted to talk about it... not about how cool the effects were, but rather about the story... a 12 year old wanted to discuss the morality of the whole situation.

Some people may not like Avatar, personally, I think those people are just too jaded to see the movie for what it really is: a simple fable, wrapped up in a fun action movie and beautifully decorated with 3D special effects. It is one of those increasingly rare occasions where Hollywood actually produced something that is worth the price of admission. I hope it goes on to make billions, if only to encourage Hollywood to take risks like this again, instead of continually producing re-makes of much better movies, TV shows and comic books.

I am 49 and have been a big movie fan all of my life. Till now their has always been 2 kinds of movie for me (before Star Wars) and (after Star Wars) because it totally changed the everything. There is now a new milestone (before Avatar) and (after Avatar) because again every thing has changed.
As for the simple plot most of the best movies are have pretty simple stories. Simple works better because movie fans miss complex plot twist
and have very short attention spans

this is amazing! in yourface all you scifi nerd ragers who wanted it to fail because its scifi

who the hell is watching chimpmunks... i bet if you go into the crowd of that theatre you'll see the dumbest of dumb people
---

Dude, what you would see is kids. My grand nephews, both under 6, can hardly wait. There are some movies made for kids. Chipmonks is in that catagory. My nephews will also enjoy Avatar, and most likely Sherlock Holms, but they are really hot to see Chipmonks.

Don't dis the kid movies. They get to have fun too!

The people who make those chipmunk movies should be sent into space. Without rockets. God, why? People will watch any maggot infested piece of crap. Yeah, chipmunks eating poop and getting chipmunk boners over female chipmunks. Brilliant! I realize this is off topic, but good lord this society has reached bottom levels.

Could be the fastest movie to 1 billion. Made 615 million in just 10 days. Could break 1 billion in less than a month.

.. and it hasn't even been released in some areas yet till after new year... they thought that they would have to wait till dvd-blueray sells to break even... think again!

and James isn't one to sit on his thumbs for sequals either.. think Aliens.. and Termeinator 2!

Don't get me wrong, but I still love Avatar, in spite of all the arch-conservative dissing I read about it, which I frankly think is way off base in judging this movie. Still, I wish Cameron could have fleshed out the background motivations for humanity's attempts to rape Pandora, and especially come up with a better maguffun than "unobtanium." Eeeuuuwww!

From John Smith : "Regarding Avatar plot holes - I just want to know what happened the following month when the Humans come back and just nuke the site from orbit. Methinks they didn't adequately address the Outside Context Problem."

Or did they. 1st the trip takes over 5 years and Im sure its incredibly expensive to make that trip. 2nd nuking the planet would probably destroy the resource they are paying so much to obtain. 3rd This wasnt a military expedition it was a corporate venture. The armed force they used were a mercenary force. I doubt the corporation gave a damn about vengence, they only care about the bottom line. They arent going to dump tons of money just to teach the savages a lesson. More likely they would sue the merc company for failure to provide adequate protection.

Regarding the possible sequels Cameron has stated they have plans. They may not take place on the Na'vi homeworld though. There were several moons orbiting the gas planet and word is Caneron intends to use them in future sequels.

First I ever heard the word 'unobtainium" was in the movie "The Core" with Hillary Swank. Did Cameron rip-off "The Core"? or did "The Core" rip-off Cameron. Either way, whatever unobtainium is in the Pandora universe is irrelevant... it's just a vehicle to advance the Jake Sully storyline.

I've seen the film three times so far... and I intend to see it again. When it does come out on Blue Ray, I intend to buy it AND a Blue Ray player.

This movie, by far, has been the most stunning visual movie I have seen in all my 49 years.

@ rshetts:

Thank you, you perfectly answered that idiot 'John Smith's' complaint.

Next time, try paying f*cking attention to the movie, 'John Smith.' You are a moron. Drown yourself before you have children. They don't deserve to be raised by a complete waste of oxygen like yourself.

Avatar is a great movie. Haters die.

Re: Chipmunks

The movie is for kids. Families are taking their kids to see the movie.

For grown men and women to complain about the Chipmunks movie is a serious waste of time.

Learn how to pick your battles, people. This one isn't worth fighting. Kids that like Chipmunks today will like Avatar tomorrow. Let them enjoy escapism at THEIR level. If their imaginations are nurtured, their tastes will evolve as they age. I used to like Chipmunks, smurfs and Thundercats. Today I like Avatar, The Road and Children Of Men.

God, people...get a grip.

unobtainium is certainly a plot device, but they did some back-story on it in a book. It is a high-temperature super-conductor that scientists had despaired of ever creating/finding and so (in jest?) named it "unobtainium" and the name stuck. Then, lo and behold, they actually find the stuff on Pandora.

Glad to see Avatar's tech paid off. Maybe Cameron should provide the Special Effects for the New "DUNE" film and del Toro Direct. Anyone Agree? P.S. Berg is no longer directing. Thank goodness!!

1.) @john smith, they should've just bombed the tree from orbit in the first place

2.) So the humans can transmit _consciousness_ wirelessly into an Avatar in the mountains, but they can't get much more basic technology like radar and thermal imaging to work?

Cameron made a big budget spectacle epic out of the silliest part of Return of the Jedi (and yes I know some sort of Ewok or Wookie battle against the techno empire was Lucas initial germ for the whole saga).

The Avatars have 5 fingers, unlike the Na'vi cause something occurs when the human and Na'vi dna is mixed that results in 5 and not 4 fingers. Also the Avatars have smaller eyes unlike the Na'vi, also as a result of dna mixing.

Just one thing bout Avatar, if they could biologically duplicate the Nathii then they should have known much more about their biology, as far as the "trees" went.

The term "unobtainium" has been used forever to describe anything that difficult or impossible to attain. It's common term used in engineering when some dope manager asks you to solve a very difficult problem quickly and for almost no cost. Sure, I'll just use unobtainium. It's not a plot device, nor did Cameron (or any other writer/director) steal it, use it, rip it off, etc. It's a common term...you just may have never heard it.

say the movie wasnt bad just hope we dont have to wait 10 years for the second one