Final Predictions:
1. Avatar - $47 million (NEW)2. The Princess and the Frog - $15 million (-38%)
3. The Blind Side - $10.9 million (-28%)
4. Did You Hear About the Morgans? - $6.8 million
5. A Christmas Carol - $6 million (-12%)
6. Invictus - $5.2 million (-40%)
7. New Moon - $4.6 million (-42%)
8. Brothers - $3 million (-40%)
9. Old Dogs - $2.8 million (-37%)
10. 2012 - $2.7 million (-38%)
Avatar is a very interesting new release that I still haven't penned down myself. It is James Cameron's (Titanic) latest $500 million epic staring Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation). Avatar has some massive expectations going for it, but I sadly don't think it's going to reach them. It's still got a lot to fight against. First, it has no previous fanbase since it's an original work. Some will argue that there is a James Cameron fanbase, but I doubt that group holds more than 500,000 members and more just fans of high quality films that would see this film anyway. My second factor is its perception. Set at least hundred years in the future, the movie's mainly about 10-feet tall blue aliens with tails that our main character falls in love with, which isn't too relateable. There are a lot of other detractors in my book, another small one being that sci-fi movies don't have a huge history of success during the winter (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Starship Troopers, Treasure Planet).
Don't get me wrong, I fully expect Avatar to be an amazing movie (and I really would like to see it do well so we can have more film "risks"), but I can't jump on the bandwagon this time. Hopefully I'm proven wrong!
On another note, Did You Hear About the Morgans will also debut on Friday. Its TV spots continually forget to show the actual premise of the entire movie (which is a married couple is forced to go into the witness protection program) and are entirely selling it on the banter of Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker. Only problem is they're not doing it that well. I'd be surprised to see it open over $10 million, which is sad, because based off the trailer that was released a couple months ago, I thought it could do great business.
