plus 4, 49 Movie Review - Avatar - KTKA

49 Movie Review - Avatar - KTKA
3-MINUTE MOVIE GUIDE: Capsule reviews - The Daily News Online
YouTube Uploader Gets Hollywood Movie Contract - Softpedia
Movie projector: 'Avatar' headed for $200 million-plus worldwide ... - Los Angeles Times Blogs
Spielberg to adapt World War I novel into movie - Economic Times

Posted: 18 Dec 2009 07:51 AM PST

Director James Cameron is back in a big way with"Avatar," a film that is rumored to be the most expensive ever made.

49 Movie Review - Avatar

Many may say that James Cameron is an out there, tyrant director but the bottom line here is he has brought a beautiful, breathtaking movie going experience to the big screen because "AVATAR" delivers. Movie footage from: 20th Century Fox

The story takes place in 2154 and the earth's ecosystem is, of course, shot. There is a precious mineral on a small, non-threatening planet named Pandora. Of course, cooperate American and the government both want the mineral and invade this planet to get what they want.

The hero of the film is paraplegic ex-Marine Jake Sully, who takes over his late brother's job as part of the Avatar Program on Pandora.

This program allows human "drivers" to have their own Avatar that is made of part of their own DNA and partially of the aliens who inhabit the planet known as the Navi's. Also, it's the only way that humans can even get close to the planet and those that inhabit it because the air on Pandora is not safe for humans to breathe.

"Avatar" is an epic feast for the eyes, making this one of the best looking films I've ever seen. I became so wrapped up with what I was watching I forgot at times it was a film that I was watching because the 3-D made it look so realistic.

Many may say that James Cameron is an out there, tyrant director, but the bottom line here is he has brought a beautiful, breathtaking movie-going experience to the big screen because "AVATAR" delivers.

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3-MINUTE MOVIE GUIDE: Capsule reviews - The Daily News Online

Posted: 18 Dec 2009 04:52 AM PST

Capsule reviews of films playing in area movie theaters (Click links for full reviews):

Opening today

Avatar

James Cameron's 3-D epic has all the smack of a Film Not To Miss -- a movie whose effects are clearly revolutionary, a spectacle that millions will find adventure in. But it nevertheless feels unsatisfying and somehow lacks the pulse of a truly alive film. The plot is a little like the American frontier circa the 1800s, only transposed to the year 2154 on the faraway moon Pandora, the home of Native American-like, aqua blue, 10-foot tall creatures called the Na'vi. Arriving are imperialistic humans to plunder, and scientists to study. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) leads a team that explores in Na'vi bodies, avatars, controlled remotely. A sense of discovery -- of Cameron's digital world of Pandora, of the impressive techno-filmmaking -- makes "Avatar" often thrilling. The environmentalist and anti-war messages resonate with contemporary troubles, but they also seem odd coming from such a swaggering behemoth of a movie. One senses Cameron's zest lies in the battle, not in peace. With Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana.

PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking. 161 minutes.

Two and half stars out of four.

-- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Did you hear about the Morgans? If so, you might wish you hadn't. This bland fish-out-of-water comedy is unremarkable in every aspect, unless you're one of them thar city slickers who thinks the idea that Sarah Jessica Parker trading in her Jimmy Choos for a pair of cowboy boots amounts to an act of cultural treason. Parker and Hugh Grant play a high-powered Manhattan couple forced to relocate to Wyoming after witnessing a murder. The Morgans are on the outs, but a dose of small-town living puts them on the mend. Too bad the jokes aren't as fresh as the air.

PG-13 for some sexual references and momentary violence. 103 minutes.

Two stars out of four.

— Glenn Whipp, for The Associated Press

The Road

Director John Hillcoat's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel strives to stay close to the book, but it fails to translate its essence and somehow feels more dreary than it should — which is saying something for a story about the apocalypse. Despite its end-of-the-world setting — an ashen wasteland dotted by marauding cannibals — McCarthy's book is, at heart, a father-son parable. We know them only as The Man (Viggo Mortenson) and The Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Hillcoat's film feels altogether uncertain, unable to find the scene-to-scene drama of their tenuous survival. Our dominant impression of the Man is his morbidity; Mortensen, a fine actor, doesn't evoke the weighty, terse steadfastness of the Man. Adapting a masterpiece such as "The Road" is a thankless task, but the film doesn't work on its own merits. "The Road" should reverberate with the most central questions of life and death, hope and despair.

Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language. 113 minutes.

Two stars out of four.

— Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

Also Playing

2012

The end is not near enough for this latest nihilistic disaster flick, directed by end-of-the-world specialist Roland Emmerich ("The Day After Tomorrow," "Independence Day"). The 2 1/2-hour film hews close to genre standards: the redeemed deadbeat dad (John Cusack), the coming together of different peoples, the toppling of monuments. The cause of destruction this time is neutrinos from the sun that have heated the earth's core and destabilized the planet's crust. Cusack and others skip narrowly ahead of the shifting tectonics; California falls into the ocean and much of the world follows suit. The most grounded thing here is the acting. Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor (as a government scientist), Oliver Platt (as the president's chief-of-staff) and Woody Harrelson (perfectly cast as a conspiracy theory-addled nut) almost convince you that something decent is at work in "2012." But it's just another doomsday film, with new digital effects and stock scenes patched together from "Jaws," "The Poseidon Adventure" and "Armageddon."

PG-13 for intense disaster sequences and some language. 158 minutes.

One and a half stars out of four.

-- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

Armored

A new guard for an armored truck company is coerced by veteran coworkers to steal a truck containing $42 million. But a wrinkle in their plan divides the group, leading to a potentially deadly resolution. Starring Columbus Short, Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne.

PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, some disturbing images and brief strong language. 88 mins. NOT REVIEWED.

The Blind Side

This redemption-minded sports flick serves its inspiration straight-up with no twist. Writer-director John Lee Hancock wisely lets the true story of Michael Oher -- the African-American teen who found a home and, eventually, football stardom, after being adopted by a wealthy Memphis family -- speak for itself. That direct focus delivers a feel-good crowd-pleaser, but it also drains the film of the kind of subtle nuances that might have separated it from other Hollywood Hallmark-like efforts, including Hancock's own "The Rookie." The movie dutifully chronicles the transformation of Oher (newcomer Quinton Aaron) from blank slate to a fully formed young man, emphasizing the involvement of Leigh Ann Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). Bullock brings her trademark spunkiness to the mother hen role, delivering an iron-willed woman who looks past appearances to do the right thing.

PG-13 for one scene involving brief violence, drug and sexual references. 128 minutes.

Two and a half stars out of four.

-- Glenn Whipp, for The Associated Press

Boondock Saints: All Saints Day

The original 1999 "Boondock Saints" was a ridiculously over-the-top action film about a pair of Irish-American twins (Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus) who set out with guns, recklessness and boozy bravado to rid Boston of criminals and mafia. The film, hardly seen in theaters, became a minor cult classic on DVD. Writer-director Troy Duffy has returned with exactly the same vigilante shlock he produced a decade ago. Because it revels so thoroughly in drinking, fighting and Catholicism, "Boondock Saints" has been called "Irishspoitation." Like its predecessor, "All Saints Day" laments a society full of red-tape and a culture dominated by the "self-help, 12-step generation." This comes across less like "Taxi Driver," and more like what Travis Bickle might have made if someone gave him a camera. Far more interesting is the story behind Duffy and "Boondock Saints," which is Hollywood legend. For that, rent the fascinating 2003 documentary "Overnight."

R for bloody violence, language and some nudity. 117 minutes.

Half a star out of four.

— Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

Brothers

Jim Sheridan's remake of the acclaimed 2004 Danish film "Brodre," has aspirations for "Deer Hunter" territory -- a minor-key examination of the cost blue-collar families pay for war. Where "Deer Hunter" was epic in its reach, "Brothers" never really leaves the front yard. While Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is held prisoner by the Taliban in Afghanistan, his wife (Natalie Portman), thinking he's dead, befriends Sam's brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal). When Sam returns, damaged from a traumatic experience, his rage boils over. It's a simple story and "Brodre" had a lyrical quality, a poetry lacking in Sheridan's sleeker, more sentimental film. "Brothers" can't preserve the intimacy of the original, and the loosened characters slide into cliche despite noble intentions.

R for language and some disturbing violent content. 110 minutes.

Two stars out of four.

-- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

A Christmas Carol

The time, not just the season, is ripe for a new version of "A Christmas Carol." When Charles Dickens wrote his classic story, it was a cautionary tale to greedy capitalists of the 19th century (Scrooge recalls his deceased partner, Jacob Marley, as "a good man of business."). Dickens' story is about as sturdy a one as we've got -- it would be nearly impossible to mar what might be the finest ghost story this side of "Hamlet." Unfortunately, our 2009 version is defined only by its technology. Animated in 3-D, Disney's "A Christmas Carol," directed by Robert Zemeckis, suffocates from its design. Despite (or because of) Zemeckis' approach to using performance-capture animation, the film comes off oddly inanimate. Jim Carrey, playing not just Scrooge but the three ghosts who visit him, clearly has the zest and range for the parts. But he -- like the rest of the cast, including Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Cary Elwes -- struggles to break through the film's excessive wizardry.

PG for scary sequences and images. Running time: 95 minutes.

Two stars out of four.

-- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

RYAN'S REVIEW: Click link to read Ryan McPherson's review of "A Christmas Carol."

An Education

Sixteen-year-old Jenny learns the ways of the world in this coming-of-age drama, but there's a revelation in store for us, as well. We get the pleasure of meeting an exciting young actress who surely deserves to become a star. Carey Mulligan is radiant as a suburban teenager in 1961 London who's curious and clever beyond her years but still rather innocent and impressionable. Although she's a diligent student and dutiful daughter, she sits alone in her bedroom at night longing to be grown-up enough to live in Paris on her own, basking in the culture. Mulligan maintains a beautifully believable balance of these contrasting forces, even as Jenny gets drawn from the sedate and boring life she knows into a glamorous new one. Her guide is David (Peter Sarsgaard doing a solid British accent), a thirtysomething man with whom she experiences an immediate connection. He whisks her away in his flashy sports car to nights filled with concerts and late-night suppers and, eventually, weekend trips out of town. Even her protective parents (Alfred Molina and Cara Seymour), who are initially skeptical of David's intentions because of the age difference, fall for his urbane charms. Director Lone Scherfig and writer Nick Hornby find just the right touch here with some tricky material, based on the memoir by Lynn Barber. The challenge is: how to make David, and this ill-advised relationship, seem thrilling rather than creepy? Through Jenny's eyes, we get caught up in the excitement, too, but as bystanders we know it can't last -- even before David's dark side starts to surface -- and that's what gives "An Education" an inescapable tension.

PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking. 95 min.

Four stars out of four.

-- Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

Everybody's Fine

For those weary of the cuddly Robert De Niro, the gentle uplift of his latest film probably isn't going to be tonic for the soul. Playing a retiree looking to reconnect with his adult children, De Niro does offer a master class of minimalist acting. If writer-director Kirk Jones ("Waking Ned Devine") had allowed his lead actor a bit more room to roam into the dark corners of his character, the movie's fast path toward late-life insight would have felt more earned. Still, De Niro's work possesses such a quiet power that Jones' well-crafted film disappoints only in the sense that it could have delivered more. With Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell as the grown children.

PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language. 100 minutes.

Three stars out of four.

-- Glenn Whipp, For The AP

Fantastic Mr. Fox

With George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray leading the top-notch voice cast, director Wes Anderson has found an ideal story and medium -- stop-motion animation -- to bring his cockeyed vision to the cartoon world. In the hands of "Rushmore" director Anderson, Roald Dahl's children's book about a poultry-thieving fox gets loving treatment and a distinct handcrafted style that sets it apart from the sleek computer-generated imagery dominating animation today. Clooney provides the voice of a fox whose capers against three evil farmers bring the mechanized wrath of the human world down on him, his family and a menagerie of neighbors. It's lightweight fun, yet the film succeeds on all levels, presenting cute and clever varmints to charm children while offering adults merry screwball humor that slyly stretches the film's family-friendly rating.

PG for action, smoking and slang humor. Running time: 88 minutes.

Three stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

RYAN'S REVIEW: Ryan McPherson of Medina shares his review of "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Invictus

Clint Eastwood's latest is a sports film less about what's on the playing field than what's happening in the stands. It's the story of South Africa's sea change under Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) told through the unlikely prism of sport. It comes off like a case study in leadership, perhaps a bit clinical and limited, but still deeply revealing. When Mandela takes office in 1994, he embraces the rugby national team, the Springboks, and seeks to turn a symbol of apartheid into a beacon of hope. It feels like destiny fulfilled hearing Freeman -- who has long sought to play the role -- speak Mandela's halting, humble speech. No one could be better. "Invictus" is dripping with inspiration, and Eastwood's extraordinary late period remains a good place to find it. With a blond, beefed-up Matt Damon as the rugby team's captain and one truly terrible song from a South African boy band.

PG-13 for brief strong language. 132 minutes.

Three stars out of four.

-- Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

The Lovely Bones

Odd as it sounds, Peter Jackson needed to come down to Earth a bit more in his adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-seller about a murdered girl looking back on her life from beyond. The visionary filmmaker behind "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy still is in fantasy land, and the film suffers for it as Jackson crafts lovely but ineffectual dreamscapes of the afterlife that eviscerate much of the human side of the story. Saoirse Ronan leads an able cast chronicling her character's journey from sensitive 14-year-old schoolgirl to shattered soul stuck in a nether zone between earth and heaven. The images often are striking, but the spectacle Jackson creates distracts from the mortal drama of regret and heartache he's trying to tell. Rose McIver as Ronan's younger sister delivers a standout performance in a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci.

PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language. 135 minutes.

Two and a half stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

Ninja Assassin

When considering the meager merits of this blood-splattered bone-snapper, it's best to remember the words of John Goodman's PC-challenged character in "The Big Lebowski": "The man in the black pajamas, Dude. Worthy ... adversary." The makers of "Ninja Assassin" want to make those words real and rescue the ninja from the province of turtles. They have a funny way of paying respect to the sword-wielding saboteurs, though. Director James McTeigue ("V for Vendetta") is clearly more interested in spraying geysers of digital blood than in establishing the ninja as a foe to be taken seriously. Another problem: Since the movie's ninjas only come out in the dark, the fight scenes are murky and almost impossible to follow. No worthy adversaries here. Korean pop star Rain and Naomie Harris lead the cast of the movie, which centers on a rogue hit man who betrays his clan of assassins.

R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. 99 minutes.

One and a half stars.

-- Glenn Whipp, For The AP

Old Dogs

In case anyone in the audience isn't sure when to cackle, coo, snicker or sigh, the makers of this dead stray of a family comedy have provided a handy on-screen prompt. It's an old dog, reacting with grunts of canine confusion or curiosity over the antics of Robin Williams and John Travolta. Director Walt Becker cuts away to the pooch, the aging pet of Travolta's character, so often that maybe the dog should have shared top billing in this rubbish about middle-aged buddies caring for young twins one of them never knew he fathered. After ham-fisted flashbacks chronicling Williams' whirlwind romance with a woman played by Kelly Preston, Travolta's real-life wife, the movie stumbles from one clumsy anecdotal sketch to the next as she dumps the surprise 7-year-olds (one played by Travolta and Preston's daughter) on the guys. A real family affair for Travolta, but not for the rest of us.

PG for some mild rude humor. 89 minutes.

One and a half stars.

-- D.G.

Pirate Radio

No movie can be all bad when juiced up with a soundtrack of more than 50 classic rock songs, the musical backdrop for a story about merry deejays blasting illicit tunes into stodgy mid-1960s Britain from a boat offshore. The best thing to say about this rock 'n' roll romp from writer-director Richard Curtis is that it's all about the music, man. The Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix -- these are the stars here, and the well-chosen songs are the main thing keeping the film afloat. Mostly a hodgepodge of music montages and prolonged, occasionally funny gags, the movie spends a lot of time talking about how great rock music is but only captures its soul through the actual playlist of songs. It's a big disappointment when you consider the potentially explosive combination of Curtis' supergroup of comic talent, including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Nick Frost.

R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity. 116 minutes.

Two stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Director Lee Daniels assembles some of the unlikeliest ingredients -- Mariah Carey, Mo'Nique, and a lead actress plucked from an anonymous casting call -- to create a wondrous work of art. The film isn't easy to watch and will test your tolerance for despicable behavior as a long history of physical abuse and incest unfolds involving an illiterate, obese Harlem schoolgirl. Yet "Precious" -- both the film and its grandly resilient title character -- will steal your heart. Daniels crafts a story that rises from the depths of despair to a place of genuine hope. Gabourey Sidibe offers a phenomenal screen debut as Precious, who makes an utterly believable and electrifying rise from an urban abyss of ignorance and neglect. The normally lowbrow Mo'Nique delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Precious' viper of a mother, while great support is provided by Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz and Carey in a small but honest role. This is great American cinema.

R for child abuse including sexual assault, and pervasive language. 109 minutes.

Four stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

The Princess and the Frog

The spirit of Walt Disney lives on in this return to hand-drawn animation by the studio that pioneered the art form. Disney has gone back to its roots with a fresh, funny retelling of a classic fairy tale. This isn't the second coming of "Beauty and the Beast" or "The Lion King." It's just plain pleasant, an old-fashioned charmer that's not straining to be the next glib animated compendium of pop-culture flotsam. Updating the Brothers Grimm tale "The Frog Prince" to the Louisiana bayou in the 1920s, the film centers on a waitress (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) whose dream of opening her own restaurant is sidetracked when she encounters a smooth-talking prince (Bruno Campos) transformed into a frog. Directors Ron Clements and John Musker ("The Little Mermaid") deliver a satisfying gumbo of snappy dialogue, lovable characters, bright-hued images and toe-tapping tunes by Randy Newman, all of it spiced up with just the right touch of voodoo peril.

G. 95 minutes.

Three stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

A Serious Man

It's hard to put a finger on exactly what a Coen brothers movie is. That's part of the allure of them. As writers and directors, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen don't just pump out the same movie over and over, as so many filmmakers do. From the comic antics of "Raising Arizona" to the noir of "The Man Who Wasn't There," the goofballs of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" to the outlaws of "No Country for Old Men," they're all strikingly different. They surprise us. But there are some thematic threads that frequently run though them, which get tangled together here in the Coens' most personal film yet. Basically the point is that the universe is random, it gives you insurmountable challenges, and there's nothing you can do about it. The concepts of justice and karma are irrelevant: Things happen to people whether their behavior is good or bad, and you can question them all you like, but good luck finding any answers. You could invoke "The Big Lebowski" in trying to explain this philosophy: They're nihilists. But the Coens are clearly having a little fun in making life so difficult for the nebbishy Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor raising his family in a predominately Jewish suburb of Minneapolis in 1967. Larry tries to do the right thing at home and at work -- tries to be a serious man -- but out of nowhere one day, the troubles start piling up until they reach an absurd level. Watching and wondering how and when he'll snap provides laughs, but also a mounting sense of unease, and it should provoke lengthy debate about the nature of faith.

R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence. 105 min.

Three and a half stars out of four.

-- Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

RYAN'S REVIEW: Ryan McPherson of Medina shares his review of "A Serious Man."

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

As every Stephenie Meyer fan knows, this is the one where studly vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) dumps human girlfriend Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) for her own safety, and she turns to old chum Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) for solace, unaware that he's a werewolf, and therefore Edward's sworn enemy. Fans will turn out in blockbuster legions, but here are a few of the many things wrong with director Chris Weitz's adaptation: It's really two half moons, or two halves of a movie that don't quite fit. Mopey teenager Bella has all the luster of, well, a mopey teenager. The real rivalry is whether werewolves or vampires can behave with greater preposterousness and pretension. Finally, "New Moon" is boring, eternally so. The soap-opera melodrama of Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner's performances provides some unintentional laughs. Yet Stewart is on screen almost all the time, and her Bella is just a drag to be around. With her flat speech and listless presence, it's unfathomable how two different sets of monsters could fixate so completely on her.

PG-13 for some violence and action. 130 minutes.

One and a half stars out of four.

-- David Germain, AP Movie Writer

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YouTube Uploader Gets Hollywood Movie Contract - Softpedia

Posted: 18 Dec 2009 11:15 PM PST

YouTube surely no longer needs any confirmation for its motto: 'Broadcast Yourself' and the one of the persons to have experienced it for himself is called Fede Alvarez. He was was offered a $30 million contract for a Hollywood movie after having uploaded a short video to YouTube.

The man is from Uruguay and his movie presents giant robots destroying Montevideo, the capital of the country, featuring amazing special effects and explosions. "Ataque de Panico!" ('Panic Attack!') was uploaded in November 2009 and so far it has got almost 2 million views on YouTube. Its producer spent about $300 making the video and it lasts for 4 minutes and 48 seconds.

The Hollywood proposition came from Sam Raimi, the one who directed successful movies like Spiderman or Evil Dead series. The contract he offered to Fede Alvarez follows the line of the original short movie and is a science fiction that will be filmed in Uruguay and Argentina. It seems that Fede Alvarez wants to take things from the beginning and create a new plot for the story.

"I uploaded (Panic Attack!) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios," Alvarez told the BBC's Latin American service BBC Mundo. "It was amazing, we were all shocked." He also added that that created a precedent for all directors around the world, saying that the same could happen to any other ambitious person worldwide, as simply as posting a video on YouTube.

Still, it is worth mentioning that it was his talent that drew all the attention on Alvarez and his Panic Attack!, as well as the amazing number of views it got since it was first uploaded. Approximately 2 million views are bound to attract the attention of highly-placed people, whether it is about movie producers or any other category.

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Movie projector: 'Avatar' headed for $200 million-plus worldwide ... - Los Angeles Times Blogs

Posted: 17 Dec 2009 05:25 PM PST

One of the most expensive movies of all time is poised for a huge box office debut this weekend, though nowhere close to the biggest ever.

"Avatar" will likely gross about $80 million from Friday through Sunday in the U.S. and Canada, according to several people who have seen pre-release public surveys. Thanks to largely positive reviews, however, the people said the movie could easily outperform what polling currently indicates and end up even higher.

People close to the studio said executives are concerned about managing expectations for their costly picture going into the weekend. Fox's domestic distribution president Bruce Snyder said he expects the movie to open to $50 million to $60 million.

Overseas, where the James Cameron-directed 3-D spectacle is opening this week in 106 countries, including every major market except Italy, Japan and China, it will probably sell more than $100 million worth of tickets and could easily collect around $150 million.

That would put "Avatar" among the 20 biggest worldwide launches ever, although well behind such hugely successful pictures as "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Spider-Man 3" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," all of which debuted with more than $300 million.

To turn a profit on their massive investment, Twentieth Century Fox and its financing partners Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners need "Avatar" to be one of the most successful movies ever. The three companies spent about $310 million to produce the movie, a total brought down to $280 million after tax credits from New Zealand, where its special effects were done by Peter Jackson's Weta Digital. Additionally, Fox has invested about $150 million to market and distribute the movie worldwide.

The two weekends leading up to Christmas have historically been relatively slow at the box office as people are busy shopping and preparing for holiday travel. The strongest debut for this time of year is "I Am Legend," with Will Smith, which opened to $77.2 million domestically in 2007. However, next weekend, which kicks off with Christmas on a Friday, is expected to be particularly strong and possibly set an industry record. If word of mouth is as positive as reviews have been, "Avatar" could defy the typical industry trends and not decline significantly in its second weekend, even though it will be joined in theaters by the highly anticipated new releases "Sherlock Holmes" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel."

Pre-release surveys indicate that overall awareness of "Avatar" this week is huge, a sign that Fox's marketing and publicity campaign has been a success. Among those aware of the film, men are overwhelmingly interested in it, particularly those older than 30. Women aren't as enthusiastic â€" especially teenage girls. The opening weekend audience will probably be heavily tilted toward men. The big question for Fox is whether women will show up in subsequent weeks.

"Avatar" will benefit from surcharges at theaters with digital 3-D projection. About 60% of its theaters in the U.S. and Canada, and 30% internationally, are showing the movie in 3-D. Because Cameron shot "Avatar" using new 3-D technology, which has been a heavy part of the movie's publicity and advertising, the vast majority of its grosses are expected to come from screens that can display it. IMAX large-format 3-D screens are expected to be particularly lucrative.

Forty-four percent of advance ticket purchases at online ticket seller Fandango are for Imax screens, 43% are standard-size 3-D and just 13% are 2-D. At competitor MovieTickets.com, 55% are IMAX 3-D, 31% are regular 3-D, and 14% are 2-D.

The movie is not among the top sellers of all time on Fandango or MovieTickets.com, probably because it is not a sequel to a well-known franchise for which there is more pent-up interest. As a result, ticket sales at tonight's midnight shows will probably be big, but not close to the $22.2 million record set by "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

What will "Avatar" open to domestically?(polling)

The only other movie opening nationwide this weekend is the romantic comedy "Did You Hear About the Morgans?," which is aimed at women. Audience interest seems to be minimal, with the film expected to open to around $10 million. Sony Pictures and Relativity Media financed the movie, which stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant, for $58 million. Sony is hoping the movie will continue to play through the holidays and perform better overseas, as most Grant's romantic comedies have.

In limited release, the Weinstein Co. debuts its musical adaptation "Nine" and Fox Searchlight debuts country music tale "Crazy Heart."

-- Ben Fritz

Related:

"Avatar" review

Hoping "Avatar" is the new face of filmmaking

"Avatar" coverage on Hero Complex blog

Photo: Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in "Avatar." Credit: 20th Century Fox.

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Spielberg to adapt World War I novel into movie - Economic Times

Posted: 18 Dec 2009 05:50 AM PST

LONDON: Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg is set to bring a novel based on the World War I to the big screen.

The Oscar winner has bought the rights to Michael Morpurgo's 1982 book "Warhorse", which follows the relationship between a boy and his horse in the backdrop of the war, reports hollywood.com.

"From the moment I read the book, I knew this was a film I wanted to make. Its heart and its message provide a story that can be felt in every country," said Spielberg, who tackled World War II in "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers".

He has roped in "Billy Elliot" writer Lee Hall for the project. Hall will adapt the book and Spielberg will produce the film. However, it is uncertain if the latter will direct the movie as well.

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