When it's All Said and Done AVATAR Would have Cost $500 Million to Make!
$500 million dollars is just an insane investment on a movie, especially one that I know for a fact will not make more than Titanic or The Dark Knight. After it's all said and done with production and marketing, it is reported that Avatar's budget will be around $500 million dollars. NYTimes says:
The final cost of the film has not been tallied, as Mr. Cameron, who has worked on the film for 15 years, and his collaborators, as far-flung as Weta Digital in New Zealand, continue to complete their work. Published reports have put the production budget at more than $230 million.
But the price tag would be higher if the financial contribution of Mr. Cameron and others were included. When global marketing expenses are added, Avatar may cost its various backers $500 million.
Sure, James Cameron's Avatar looks like it is going to be a pretty amazing film, but does it have what it takes to make well over $500 million dollars at the box office? I don't know, there's been a lot of negative feedback from what people have seen from the film... that's not a good sign. I hate to say it, but Twilight's New Moon has more hype and a bigger audience behind it than Avatar does.
Just because Cameron made Titanic, the highest grossing movie of all time, doesn't mean that Avatar is going to make as much money. Titanic was a film that teenage girls and women all over the world were seeing over and over again. I don't see teenage girls going out to see Avatar more than once, that's if they even go see it at all! On top of that, I know for myself, I don't think I'm going to drop another $20 bucks to go see it in the theaters again.
FOX thinks they won't have a problem getting their money back. Unfortunately, I think they will. I'm sure they will end up with a profit, but I don't think it's going to be a big one, definitely not a Titanic size profit. Cameron may have made one of the best looking CGI films ever made with the best 3D technology around, but that doesn't mean it is going to make a profit.
What do you all think? Do you think Avatar will make over $500 million bucks?