Soundwave said:
I just think Avatar's characters/themes are more niche than Star Wars even. Without the novelty of being the first real breakout 3D movie, I think Avatar 2 will be beaten by both Avengers 2 and Star Wars *if* Star Wars actually has a script/directing of reasonably better quality than the prequel movies. Adjusted for inflation Star Wars, not only beat Avatar, but so does Empire Strikes Back. Return of the Jedi is right there and so is Phantom Menace. People finally turned against Star Wars because Lucas' screenwriting/direction had become terrible and many people felt burned by Episode I. JJ Abrams is a decent action director and the writer is a very good writer (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine, etc.). Kathleen Kennedy is also an extremely smart producer, she has made sure there's some real talent behind the new Star Wars, much like Disney also did with The Avengers. I'm going to say, Avengers 2 > Star Wars (w/a good script) > Avatar 2 > Batman/Superman |
You both make good points but I definitely agree with you that Star Wars was a bigger phenomenon than Avatar. I realize this thread is talking box office numbers here but I just refuse to believe that if you stripped away Avatar's 3D novelty that it would have come anywhere near dethroning Titanic's box office record. Regarding things like their influence on pop culture they're not even close. We'll never see such a popular line of action figures, such complete nerd fandom or script quotes that transcend generations like Star Wars accomplished. Even the special effects were nowhere near the revolution that Star Wars was in the late '70s.
As for which will do better between the two movies I certainly wouldn't make any bets (because as he stated Star Wars has been tainted) and granted, my bias is playing into it a bit since I really like some of the Star Wars movies, love Abrams, and hated Avatar, but as you mentioned the characters and themes in Avatar just aren't very interesting as far as warranting a sequel and I just don't see the follow up garnering nearly the success that the first movie did.