Avatar Becomes Most Succesful Film Ever Made

[Guest]

Most successful would have to be Star Wars, hands-down. I know the ticket numbers give Gone With the Wind an edge, and if that is the only measuring stick, so be it, but if you look at the absolutely MONSTROUS legacy and franchise Star Wars has become, no one comes within a 100-mile radius. Books, films, toys, cartoons, games, you name it, and still going strong more than 30 years later.

 

[HavoCnMe]

I wish i could take my income back to the 1930's....

 

[sojrner]

@mjello:
that list conflicts with boxofficemojo (the one used more often I believe)

and honestly... "successful"? some say it is # of tickets, some say total gross... what about actual net profit? If a flick makes 100 million gross and yet costs 70 million to produce and advertise while another "only" makes 50 million but cost them 10 million to produce and advertise then the lower gross film is more "successful" IMO. You could look at it w/ percentages too, how efficient the return on investment was but my point is the same. In either respect neither gross $ or butts in the seats are the final word but all of it combined. just my 2 bits...

granted, I don't care if a movie makes anything as long as I was entertained and/or enjoyed it. I thought avatar was pretty and worth watching once. Very cool tech for 3D, but "Pocahontas in Space" was not what I was after for anything beyond the wow-factor... it was the blonde of movies, pretty but dumb. ;-)

 

[magicbullet]

in addition to the inflation, what about human population? human population has increase over the 500million people in over a decade. do the inflation ratio and human population ratio and etc, so we can get the answer.

 

[matt2k]

ok, just my 2 cents here, but to really calculate the films profit, shouldnt you compare the incoming revenue with the money spent on the film?
its all about ratios, think of paranormal: a really cheap film that made a lot of money.
titanic: an expensive film that made a lot of money
avatar: a really expensive film that made slightly more money
... so to compare a films monetary worth you should take into account all factors, not just ticket sales (gone with the wind) or profit (titanic/avatar)

but to be fair, who really cares?!
cos i dont, and have have never seen titanic, avatar or gone with the wind.
but just about everything inbetween

 

[Guest]

Have to remember that movies used to come back to the cinemas year after year. Gone with the Wind and Star Wars and other films were run at the cinemas on and off for *years* so a much bigger crack at ticket sales even if the population was lower.

 

[cobra5000]

I dont care about how much money or tickets sold these movies made, Avatar is STILL in theaters! All of these other movies have been out forever and with the exception of Star Wars, EVERY one of them stink on ice! Avatar is a fantastic movie! Not the best story, but great characters and the most amazing visuals Ive ever seen in any form of entertainment ever !

 

[Guest]

If you want to factor in inflation, ticket sales, when the movie was made, IMAX, etc., etc, then you also have to factor in the the revenue and ticket sales lost from bootleg copies of the movie. There has been a bootleg of Avatar out there for the last few weeks. This was not as much of an issue with older movies then it is today.

 

[enewmen]

I'm sure no matter how much Avatar brings in, someone will complain about losses due to piracy.

 

[pochacco007]

it's not the amount of money the movie makes. it should be the amount of people who actually went to watch it. just like in video games, it's not about the amount of money the game makes but rather the amount of buyers who bought the game.

in video games, you can have a single game but charge those who buy it a huge price tag. it doesn't necessarily mean it's a big success because the high price tag doesn't show if people are actually buying it.

 

[jfem]

Both movies are good. When avatar ends in cinemas, then we will know.

 

[jfem]

Both movies are good. When avatar ends in cinemas, then we will know.

 

[belardo]

Something that people should very much keep in mind here when it comes to Counting Ticket Sales to determine the success of a movie...

1 - How many of US have watched Gone with the Wind, own it on DVD, much less Blu-Ray?

2 - Compared to 20, 30, 50 years ago, the number of theaters screens available. Go back to the 70s, most theaters had 2~4 screens. There is a lot more competition with 32 screens.

3 - Many people have HD-TV with large 50+" screens and amazing sound systems. With Blu-Ray and such, this means a person can watch the movie once (if at all) in the theater and then buy the Disc media and watch it many many times. Back when "Gone with the Wind" was made (a chick flick), there was NO DVD, VHS or other means to watch the movies at home. Not until TVs in the 50s started coming out.

Even when Star Wars came out in 77, the theater was the ONLY way to see it for a year or so. And a VHS / Laser Disc copy was about $100! A plain mono-VCR was about $1000 in 1980, only hitting $400 in 1985. (People bitching about Blu-Ray players & PCs costing $400~600 is kind of funny... with inflation, my 1985 VCR would be $800 today).

So yes, Avatar is a very successful. Its still doing very well in theaters and will do extremely well with blu-ray and 3D blu-ray.

So... is there a ranking on DVD/BLu-Ray sales by title?

I bet that "Gone with the Wind" (I bought it for my mother who only ever watched it once) is NOT in the top 200 in DVD sales.

 

[pythy]

Obviously the people who rates how successful a movie is, they are only interested in how much money the movie makes. If someone made a movie and it costs $10 billion for a ticket and Bill Gates decided to watch it, then this movie will be the most successful movie ever.

 

[rajeshsundaram]

Sure. It's Gone with the Wind and Titanic. Avatar is just a mix of visual extravaganza on a clue-less storyline.

Titanic was appealing because of the Ship and nicely woven storyline which touched the hearts. But avatar just touches the eye, and not the heart. Gone with the Wind - Well.. should I say anything more? It's a classic benchmark.

Avatar should be considered as an example of "How marketing and Technology can create billion dollar revenue?". Nothing more than that. I like the movie for 3D and technology. But did it touched my heart? - No.

 

[Guest]

We also have to account for the fact that unlike the times of 'Gone with the wind' when not much was available as entertainment today we a movie that has actually compelled people to visit the Movies. back in 1997 the INTERNET age was just starting and so were DVD's now we can download and watch any movie or television show you want while texting,tweeting and playing games on PC,Console,iPhone,Wii or whatever. Lets face it money doesnot make a winner and neither ticket sales unless you take all the factors into account. Think about it will we even be having this conservation in 10 years when all content is delivered straight to your home, or 3D holograms are perfected!

 

[brraap16]

This link is to article from a critic does an excellent job of describing and breaking down what the box office numbers mean. Although it was written after The Dark Knight came out it provides relevant info.

http/www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts.php?identifier=488

 

[jacobdrj]

You can't do inflation adjusted because of the inconsistency in ticket prices, the emphasis on movies as an entertainment medium and quality of records kept.

 

[mohsh86]

World of Warcraft will be..

 

[anamaniac]

Sin City (Quentin Tarantino's masterpeice), The good, the bad, and the ugly (Clint Eastwoods masterpeice), Ink (a indi), anything yb Bruce Cambell etc.

I like old school westerns and professionally done B movies.
I'll go see this eventually though.

P.S. Titanic sucked. I don't have extremely high hopes for Avatar (plus, I don't feel like paying $20 at my theatre to see it, $40 if I go with someone).