As if expectations on James Cameron’s AVATAR weren’t high enough, now comes the ultimate question: what exactly will determine if the film is a success or a failure?
Although TF2 came out with some of the most scathing reviews this year, that one is still called successful in that it set out to rake in tons of cash – and it did, in spades. Then again, SUPERMAN RETURNS is often called a flop even though its international take put it more than $100M in the black.
Cameron, working out of an original -as in unfamiliar- story aimed to blow our minds visually. What if THAT fails? Even more pressure is being put on the director, by the New York Times who through some calculations only they know of came up with an approximation of what AVATAR will have cost its many financial backers once international marketing has been considered: over $500M.
If the visuals don’t live up to Cameron’s own hype, how high will the profit margin need to be for a seal of success to be stamped on AVATAR? Does Fox hope for something close to TITANIC’s take?