Image Credit: WETATo no one’s surprise, Avatar fans rushed to purchase James Cameron’s sci-fi epic on DVD, even though it lacked the third-dimension so associated with its theatrical success or even a single DVD extra. Released Thursday, on Earth Day instead of traditional DVD release day Tuesday, Avatar easily surpassed The Dark Knight as the fastest-selling Blu-ray DVD and sold more than 4 million total DVDs in its first day.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox Home Entertainment is already planning a special-edition Avatar DVD for November and a 3D version for early next year, so I have to ask: How many of yesterday’s buyers are going to reinvest and then re-reinvest in Pandora? Cameron has criticized directors like George Lucas, whose constant tinkering with his Star Wars films resulted in a frustrating series of DVD releases, but Avatar fans have the right to be just as skeptical of this money grab.
So buyers: Will you double-dip come November? Triple-dip in 2011?
I really wanted the Blu Ray and am satisfied with what I bought. No need for any special features. Also the Blu Ray edition also comes with the regular DVD format disc.
My reaction:
HOLY F’CK, JAMES CAMERON IS F’CKING RICH NOW!!
Now?
THIS MOVIES SUCKS!! Think about it, outside the awe the first time you see it, there is nothing else, no memorable lines, memorable characters, NOTHING. Anyone who buys this dvd is a moron.
Pretty sure james was rich after the first billion dollars avatar made at the box office.This guy probably has a 50% revenue share of all profits so guaranteed after the dvd sales are tallied in, he’s a billionaire.
Seriously! James was rich after Titanic. Come on now.
Avatar didn’t win Best Picture…
Enjoy your overpriced/ crappily written/ sub par acting / smurf cheesefest, nerds.
Amen!
Amen Hugo!
I’m a nerd. Did not like it. AT. ALL.
Ill second that
Pathetic.
Thank you! (but l WILL be waiting until November for the bonus ‘crap’, too!)
Are there no sites or threads about films that you do like? How do people get to spend so much time trawling through talkbacks on films they don’t like? Are you all lottery winners?
It’s a very well written and directed film by the way, and Zoe Saldana’s performance was amongst the best of the century so the acting comment is just nonsensical.
“Zoe Saldana’s performance was amongst the best of the century”..
Are you kidding me? Everyone’s acting in that movie was sub-par. You need to open your horizons in the movie scene. I suppose you also think Paris Hilton is a good actress…
If you don’t like it, it must ‘Hurt’ you a lot to see Avatar ‘Locking’ in more money than other pathetic movies. Get my point? This is the best movie ever, and on blu ray, it is out of this world. Amazing!!!!! Can’t wait for the special edition, not getting the 3d of course.
Sub par acting? Crappily written? You could say the exact same thing about the first Stars Wars movie. Farm boy joins a bunch of misfits to save a damsel in distress. A simple plot that has been used hundreds if not thousands of times before. Add in Mark Hamill’s whining acting and you think it would be a boring, bad movie. But it is a classic not becuase of the story but becuase of the amazing world Lucas presented to us. Yes, Avatar is another overused cliche story but it is also an amazing universe to explore. Any true Sci-fi fan will realize that.
@Blaster
The only reason it’s making more money is because of delusional saps like you. It didn’t deserve to win the Best Picture Oscar. It has a predictable story and ending. It did deserve the effects awards, but that’s about it.
dang yall hate already cost it a best picture oscar…what else do you want??
Yeah, it’s hard to beat an inflatable doll for entertainment. ..
This is a plagiarised, anti-American, anti-white “done a hundred times” story.
If it was viewed in theatres in 2d, the attendance would have been mediocre, at best.
This would be a great thesis about “how the masses are manipulated with little effort”.
Yeah. Or howbout, “how the masses are mannipulated to share their unwanted sophmoric opinions”
When I went to watch the movie in in the theater, I did not come in looking for some stupid message or whatever. I simply wanted to be entertained for a while. I was. I see no anti blah blah blah and did not feel compelled to join a “save the earth” movement afterwards. Just good entertainment. Some people should not expect so much from every little thing or you will end up being very disapointed in life.
You probably love Planet of the Apes.
Finally saw avatar…can’t say that I liked it. Terrible dialogue and overall just not that great.
I’d just like to expose a dirty Hollywood secret about DVD and CD sales figures:
Sales figures for DVDs and CDs are not calculated by actual retail sales, they are calculated from wholesale sales.
SO what does that mean? Well, it means that Walmart alone probably bought 2 million copies of Avatar to sell in their stores, and it doesn’t actually matter if no real consumers bothered to go to Walmart to buy the movie. Walmart may end up sitting on those Avatar DVDs for the next 2 years, or until they toss them in the $5 bargain bin. It doesn’t matter to Hollywood, the DVDs are already sold. On top of that, you can estimated that another million were probably sold for rental at Blockbuster and other rental establishments.
This is also true of CDs, which is why, no matter how bad an American Idol winner may be, they will always have a number one album the first week.
First week sales figures are totally inaccurate reflections of consumer demand. If anything, the real indicator of a DVD or CD’s popularity is its sales figures after a month. If retailers are still buying a CD or DVD in bulk weeks after its initial release, then it can be legitimately determined that the product is moving.
I won’t double dip for the special edition version, my Blu-ray version is special enough. But I will be looking at getting the 3D version in 2011.
so…you are double dipping then, no?
I believe that’s what he said. He won’t double for the Spec ed.
I’ll wait until November. What differentiates a DVD or Blu Ray from “on demand”, “live streaming”, etc. are the special features.
I bought the Blu-Ray yesterday and will prolly get someone to buy me the special feature Blu-Ray November edition for Christmas…
This is the way to go. I always hold out buying Summer blockbuster releases because I know I can get them free from people once they’re released come the holiday season.
That’s how I got three sets of the Star Wars trilogy! But to even compare the two (Avatar and Star Wars) is disturbing considering the originality of one and the banality of Avatar.
To everyone complaining about the movie. What has compelled you so drastically to come whine about the movie? You claim we “The masses”, are being manipulated… yet here you are adding to metadata of this very page dedicated to the movie. Which means just even more talk of the movie, and basically indirectly supporting the movie.
If you don’t like it, so be it. I’m a star wars fan as well, and yes to compare the two is foolish, but to say both aren’t equally entertaining, now that’s ignorant.
Star wars was amazing because of the world it showed us. Sorry but all of the newest released aka the first in the series… were shambly.
Graphics weren’t anything spectacular, meaning I myself felt I could do as well with my 3D Studio Max and knowledge of C++.
And the acting was horrible. I didn’t even feel compelled to finish the movies, but did so just to see it through.
This movie might not appeal to everyone, you expect it to be something like star wars, then you have a problem, and should probably just keep playing star wars over and over. Which, I can’t say I’ve watched even the good Star War’s episodes more than a few times.
Anyways, this movie was pretty good. At least the best of this genre to come out in a while. The audio went well, the graphics were top notch, and I actually thought the acting was pretty good.
The ending might be semi-predictable. Yeah, you can tell he is going to save the Na’Vi, boo hoo. Was star wars really that unpredictable? I found myself saying Star Trek was less predictable, and that’s bad. Seeing as how you knew an unlucky enson was going to die idiotically every other episode.
Just stop expecting any more star wars trained movies. I don’t care about star wars anymore, and honestly, minus the psychotic star wars fans… those movies don’t even get great acclaim anymore. Get over it. Good movies back in the nineties, crap now.
And guess what? I don’t care about the 3D. Didn’t even go to theatre’s to see it. Got it for what it was, a great movie.
It is totally different. Well before this release we have been told there will be other versions available at later dates, unlike all of the “definitive as the director intended” re-releases of Star Wars.
For what it’s worth I’ve ordered this version for my Sister and my father -in-law and I’ll hold out for the 3D version for myself, unless of course someone buys it for my birthday or Xmas.
agreed!
Ta izzi
It has 0 extras. The DVD is worthless. Waiting until November
Yeah, worthless. Except for the whole movie thing.
bahaha.
I got the current one, since I wanted it. Going to skip the SE version, and wait for the 3d to double dip; assuming I have a TV that can handle it at the time. I love the add-ons, but in general, watch them once, then never again.
Yeah, I don’t get the big rush for this. I loved LOrd of the Rings and so I waited for the extended editions. If you’re a big fan of this why not wait. Of course, Camerons a greedy jerk so it’s hard decide what to wait for. if you wait for november’s he’ll come out with another version later. Lucas’s playing around with different versions on video and laserdisc only caused me to not buy Star Wars on dvd. I’ve seen the movies many times, so I won’t feel the need to add anymore to his fortune.
If he was greedy he’d have just kept his mouth shut released version after version as his Lucasesque Final definitive one. He hasn’t he & Fox have been very clear as to what is on this and what and when, roughly, will be on other versions. There’s no hidden package here.
More than that I find it highly unlikely that when 3D Blu-rays do arrive they will be the same price as standard ones. So how much moaning would there be if Fox released only a 3D version on Blu-ray now, with all the extras for an extra $5 – $10; when hardly anyone has either a player or a TV capable of playing it. We’d all be hearing cries of greedy Fox etc and why don’t they release a “normal” version that’s $10 cheaper for those of us who don’t want/ need a 3D version?
One more thing, getting as much money as possible for films like this is both what allows Cameron to innovate the technology of cinema so often AND what allows all those films we love like Hurt Locker and say 500 days of Summer to get made even though they are often likely to lose money. Big films are what allow Studios to spend millions making the “little” films.
Freedom of choice, Avatar has given us that, Star Wars didn’t and let’s not forget that we’re likely to need to buy both the theatrical AND extended editions of LOTR on Blu-ray if we want to see both as I bet when the extended version come out they won’t have a branching feature that will allow us to watch both versions. There’s real “greed” for you. Except as film is a business you kinda have to say that it’s just good business sense.
Well said, therealeverton. While I find the release date of Avatar awfully early, compared to the norm, I would imagine that the highest money earner of all time ranks right up there with the most pirated of all time as well; so it makes sense to release it early. And by releasing it now, it allows the video stores to rent it for now so people can get their fix and buy the special edition in November – no one is forcing you to buy it now, and it was big of Cameron to let people in on the Sp. Ed. release date now for that reason. And imagine, a studio trying to make money on something popular – it’s unheard of!
Well, I’m not worried about it. Saw Avatar at a 3D imax theater and don’t feel I ever need to see it again. I was easily his worst film since Piranha 2, in my opinion. What I like though is all you people who bend over at Cameron’s command and ask for more.
Totally worth grabbing the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack for $20 shipped from Amazon. My daughter’s been dying to have this on her iPod since we saw it in theaters together. The number of times she’ll watch it in the upcoming months will more than make up for any “double dipping” that might occur when I inevitably buy some “more special” version of the movie at some point in the future.
You know what looks great on a tiny iPod screen? A movie created for 3D IMAX screens. You gotta love kids, they just don’t care. :p
The only movie that I ever enjoyed the extras on was Spiderman 2. I could careless about extras, and do you people realy care that much about them or is it just a standard that you must have? I bought it used for 9 bucks at a local pawn shop this morning.
What a greedy bunch of jerks. I saw the movie in theaters for 12 bucks in 3d it was great can’t see y it’s so hard to put out a 3d version now. It only took like seven years to make the movie
Because hardlt anyone has a 3D capable television or player. Even the firmware upgrade for SOME PS3′s still leave people needing a new TV, an expensive new TV. Releasing that instead of the version out now, for a likely higher price would be a little risky and probably annoying to most customers. And the Anaglyph thing is a big no-no.
make.it.stop.
Name one movie that hasn’t been reissued at least once. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, blah blah blah. Now with a new format in Blu-ray, most people will end up double dipping anyway. Avatar is a movie that truly stands on its own. So yes, I bought Avatar yesterday and I will buy the special edition in November. George Lucas is by far the worst for reissuing a 30 year old movie franchise. George Lucas needs to move on and give up Star Wars. Especially if he plans on making Star Wars in 3D. Give me a break already.
Doug, the vast majority (like 90%) of movies do NOT get re-released (not counting releasing a movie on VHS, then on DVD, then Blu-ray Disc, etc.) Most of the movies that do get re-released still have some extras on the initial release, they aren’t greedy and release a gimped version with no extras.
Ever heard of Disney? They rerelease *everything *
I’ll ask Jim about it on Wednesday, when I’m GOING TO MEET HIM!
I think the extras could be simply incredible, showing the making, concept art, animation and interviews and whole Mythopoeia of James Cameron’s Avatar.
Will have to wait a while longer.
I pretty much always wait for movies to come out on DVD as I prefer to watch them in my home theater. I was pleasantly surprised to find out Avatar was being released so early. I loved the movie. Yes the underlying story has been done a million times but what movie hasn’t. The world created in Avatar was amazing. The folks talking about hurt locker lack critical thinking. The editing of that movie was horrible. Some of the scenes were utterly rediculous. Why was a 3 man EOD team in the middle of the desert? How does the did team leader miss a static target by 12 feet and then hit a running target in the head? How does blood jam a 50 bmg? Pretty stupid to say the least.
Agree. I know Avatar is fictional but feel it real, and I know THL is derived from real but feel completely fake. THL’s Oscar was the result of reverse sexism.