Box Office Wars
Can “Avengers: Endgame” dethrone “Avatar”’s decade long #1 spot?
Hi everyone, it’s Aleks!
If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am a huge MCU fan. For last year’s “Infinity War” I went to the pre-premiere. Whether because of me being a fan, or because I did not want anything spoiled — that is a different question. This year I did the same with “Endgame”.
Before we move on, I just want to state that I’m not going to compare the two movies based on script, cinematography, the acting of the cast or anything that makes a movie. I’m going to compare them just on what the movies make — money. So, let’s talk about it.
Avatar
The movie is generally accepted as a masterpiece, a fascinating story about humanity and nature. Even more fascinating is how much money it managed to gross. The official estimates put its box office at $2,788b with some sources putting it at $2.9b. Now, there are critics that do not like the movie, its message, etc. and I don’t know if the movie is actually a masterpiece or if it is accepted as one, just because for 10 years no movie has made more money. That is a different topic, one for discussion between people who understand what movie-making is about and what makes a good movie.
However, the amount of money made depends on several factors that put aside the qualities of the movie itself. For “Avatar” the main factors are two. First is the movie being directed by James Cameron who was critically acclaimed after “The Terminator”, “Rambo: First Blood”, “Titanic” and others. Movies like “Point Break” might have not been so financially successful, but the fact is that he worked on a lot of movies that shaped the culture, especially the US culture. A director with a name like this will always attract the masses to the theaters.
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The other factor that helped the success of “Avatar” is that because of James Cameron and the system he worked on, the movie is seen as the best 3D picture to date. The way “Avatar” looked opened the gates for other directors to use 3D and the financial success of a 3D movie helped studios grant larger budgets. In short, one could say that James Cameron’s “Avatar” pushed 3D directing/shooting (whatever the word is, told you I don’t understand movie-making) into the mainstream. Honestly, I can’t wait for the next four sequels, first one set for release next year (after being pushed a couple of times).
Avengers: Endgame
Honestly, I won’t speak much about Endgame if it is a good or a bad movie, because we have to see if it will withstand the test of time. However, it is a very hyped and anticipated movie, simply because of Marvel Studios. No, seriously, those guys just make a blockbuster after another and are really shaping the culture the same way Cameron’s movies did in the 80s and 90s. And I really admire them for what they’ve done with their comic-book adaptations. They understand which characteristics of the comic-book heroes wouldn’t work on their movie counterparts.
Just look at “Guardians of the Galaxy” and you will see what I am talking about.
Marvel Studios has created something truly fascinating, not only with Guardians, but with the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe. Each movie is different, tells a different story, but in the team-up movies, it makes sense for the heroes to work together and take the actions they take, because the universe is so well built-up. Now, there are plot holes, the movies aren’t perfect, but the cohesive universe Marvel has created is one of the huge factors that will help its success. Not only for “Endgame”, but for every movie after it.
Talking about “Endgame”, it is the conclusion of 22 movies before it. Kinda like a series season finale. You must watch it, to know what will happen in the next season, even if you have missed a couple of boring episodes (the first 2 Thor movies). This alone is enough for the movie to make $2b with no problem. The only surprising thing is the time it took “Endgame” to gross over $2.18b worldwide. It is not going to surprise me if the movie reaches $3b by the end of the month, despite how many people have already seen it. The fan-base is so strong, that some people will watch it at least twice.
The war for #1
The fans of the two movies will tell you different things about the qualities of the movies and on this, I remain silent. The war itself is mostly between fans and in general, it doesn’t really matter who wins. Why? Because with Disney’s recent acquisition of Fox, they now own both of the movies. In fact Disney owns so many popular franchises that they have a guaranteed cash-flow for the upcoming years.
Regardless of that, I side with the world’s mightiest heroes for one simple reason — the underdog story. I simply love the classic rags-to-riches type of achievement. With Marvel risking bankruptcy back in the production days of “Iron Man” and betting everything on that movie, I would love to see one of their movies claiming the #1 spot as the highest box office movie ever. Even if it is for a while and Avatar 2 takes the crown back to the Na’vi.
