The King of the World could get his crown buffed and polished this weekend.
James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director behind “Titanic,” returns to the big screen with “Avatar,” a space adventure promising to revolutionize the movie going experience.
Does he still have the Midas touch at the box office, or has his extended hiatus robbed him of his sense of popular culture?
MovieTickets.com Executive Vice President Walt Borchers says the film’s first weekend numbers won’t tell the whole story.
“I think it’s gonna break loose after this weekend,” Borchers says thanks to what he expects will be glowing word of mouth. “This movie dos not have to have ‘New Moon’ numbers to be successful. It can be a slow burn.”
Movietickets.com reports more than 350 sold out shows in the days before the film’s Dec. 18 opening, and 90 percent of pre-opening ticket sales have been for either 3-D or IMAX showings.
“We’ve never seen anything like that,” he says, adding the film will draw both technology hounds and the “early adopter” crowd.
And should the film meet audience expectations, expect ticket buyers to line up more than a few times to take in the visual splendor, he says.
Fandango.com reports “Avatar” represents 87 percent of weekly ticket sales as of Dec. 17 (Thursday). And a survey conducted by Fandango reveals most movie goers don’t care that the film’s budget is through the stratosphere – and beyond! to quote a certain Toy.
Most importantly, Fandango reports “Avatar” is beating “Star Trek” in advance ticket sales at the same point in that film’s sales cycle.
Looks like Cameron may live long and prosper at the box office.
Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.
(Photo: Sam Worthington stars in “Avatar,” the highly anticipated new film from director James Cameron./20th Century Fox)
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