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[54.240.79.144]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id f4-20020ac87f04000000b0041cc346426asi11804619qtk.135.2023.11.16.09.33.35 for (version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Thu, 16 Nov 2023 09:33:36 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of 0100018bd9320339-9a531488-dc26-4d4e-af1e-1001943df497-000000@amazonses.com designates 54.240.79.144 as permitted sender) client-ip=54.240.79.144; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; dkim=pass header.i=@e.smartpeoplemail.com header.s=wy5mwsfipru2naw2ukfs32w5zn4ylnld header.b=YAh4U5Cr; dkim=pass header.i=@amazonses.com header.s=224i4yxa5dv7c2xz3womw6peuasteono header.b=BtIAYok0; spf=pass (google.com: domain of 0100018bd9320339-9a531488-dc26-4d4e-af1e-1001943df497-000000@amazonses.com designates 54.240.79.144 as permitted sender) smtp.mailfrom=0100018bd9320339-9a531488-dc26-4d4e-af1e-1001943df497-000000@amazonses.com DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/simple; s=wy5mwsfipru2naw2ukfs32w5zn4ylnld; d=e.smartpeoplemail.com; t=1700156015; h=Date:From:Reply-To:To:Message-ID:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type:List-Unsubscribe; bh=Nfy7JN7XtDbRHPQrrXisjpjk1K33HJapcnMfbkRVBiI=; b=YAh4U5CrMWojp/YMC8sK8JYroA0fGK0euUMXSksYtraLXcoH+jHYLq5siySxb7p4 maZTRSfLy1lJzPmP0Eu+U4KTM/hljIqenRrn/qgfjmGrTNI6ZiXR98/YwGJSjcOn35L cwiXpcChb9HKwiP8D7oAGgrfn6MSeWBGJyiVpnU4= DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; q=dns/txt; c=relaxed/simple; s=224i4yxa5dv7c2xz3womw6peuasteono; d=amazonses.com; t=1700156015; h=Date:From:Reply-To:To:Message-ID:Subject:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Feedback-ID:List-Unsubscribe; bh=Nfy7JN7XtDbRHPQrrXisjpjk1K33HJapcnMfbkRVBiI=; b=BtIAYok0MKWot2vMsbfguU1oPG05Jx1AUq6AW+6bq0RcyhGu78aY/yC+xv6rbX2m DnGfK77NepWq0Yf3M+eG40i0sPbOOMxA8GjCmtFvqd/G6v9hU22pMuZC4zfTiKS4Uy+ ePFjXiXLWnkBIvoasks3uwH8VeitpNfC9mEcAYdI= Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2023 17:33:35 +0000 From: James Dutton | SPM Reply-To: newsletter@e.smartpeoplemail.com To: sterlingwhg@gmail.com Message-ID: <0100018bd9320339-9a531488-dc26-4d4e-af1e-1001943df497-000000@email.amazonses.com> Subject: =?UTF-8?Q?=E2=97=BCElon_Musk:_THIS_will_be_bigg?= =?UTF-8?Q?er_than_Tesla=E2=97=BC_|_Nov_16,_2023?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_216000_774225109.1700156015399" X-Campaign-ID: 8309052 Feedback-ID: 1.us-east-1.lCJVkz6+3S71MtYe1CeGk/9v1Z83C325jnahyIHJIg0=:AmazonSES List-Unsubscribe: , X-Feedback-ID: 11032611:8309052:36661:iterable X-Message-ID: 529eb9102e2949e180793177bc365edb X-SES-Outgoing: 2023.11.16-54.240.79.144 X-Spam-Status: No, score=4.2 X-Spam-Score: 42 X-Spam-Bar: ++++ X-Spam-Flag: NO ------=_Part_216000_774225109.1700156015399 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable American manufacturing will leave China=E2=80=A6 And make a triumphant retu= rn to=20 America=E2=80=A6 Unsubscribe=20 |Web view=20 Principal photography for Avatar began in April 2007 in Los Angeles and=20 Wellington. Cameron described the film as a hybrid with a full live-action= =20 shoot in combination with computer-generated characters and live environmen= ts.=20 "Ideally at the end of the day the audience has no idea which they're looki= ng=20 at," Cameron said. The director indicated that he had already worked four= =20 months on nonprincipal scenes for the film.[66] The live action was shot wi= th a=20 modified version of the proprietary digital 3-D Fusion Camera System, devel= oped=20 by Cameron and Vince Pace.[67] In January 2007, Fox had announced that 3-D= =20 filming for Avatar would be done at 24 frames per second despite Cameron's= =20 strong opinion that a 3-D film requires higher frame rate to make strobing = less=20 noticeable.[68] According to Cameron, the film is composed of 60%=20 computer-generated elements and 40% live action, as well as traditional=20 miniatures.[69] Motion-capture photography lasted 31 days at the Hughes=20 Aircraft stage in Playa Vista in Los Angeles.[54][70] Live action photograp= hy=20 began in October 2007 at Stone Street Studios in Wellington and was schedul= ed=20 to last 31 days.[71] More than a thousand people worked on the production.[= 70]=20 In preparation of the filming sequences, all of the actors underwent=20 professional training specific to their characters such as archery, horseba= ck=20 riding, firearm use, and hand-to-hand combat. They received language and=20 dialect training in the Na'vi language created for the film.[72] Before=20 shooting the film, Cameron also sent the cast to the Hawaiian tropical=20 rainforests[73] to get a feel for a rainforest setting before shooting on t= he=20 soundstage.[72] During filming, Cameron made use of his virtual camera syst= em,=20 a new way of directing motion-capture filmmaking. The system shows the acto= rs'=20 virtual counterparts in their digital surroundings in real time, allowing t= he=20 director to adjust and direct scenes just as if shooting live action. Accor= ding=20 to Cameron, "It's like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly throug= h=20 space, or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a= =20 living miniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale."[74] Using conventio= nal=20 techniques, the complete virtual world cannot be seen until the motion-capt= ure=20 of the actors is complete. Cameron said this process does not diminish the= =20 value or importance of acting. On the contrary, because there is no need fo= r=20 repeated camera and lighting setups, costume fittings and make-up touch-ups= ,=20 scenes do not need to be interrupted repeatedly.[75] Cameron described the= =20 system as a "form of pure creation where if you want to move a tree or a=20 mountain or the sky or change the time of day, you have complete control ov= er=20 the elements".[76] Cameron gave fellow directors Steven Spielberg and Peter= =20 Jackson a chance to test the new technology.[65] Spielberg said, "I like to= =20 think of it as digital makeup, not augmented animation ... Motion capture= =20 brings the director back to a kind of intimacy that actors and directors on= ly=20 know when they're working in live theater."[75] Spielberg and George Lucas = were=20 also able to visit the set to watch Cameron direct with the equipment.[77] = To=20 film the shots where CGI interacts with live action, a unique camera referr= ed=20 to as a "simulcam" was used, a merger of the 3-D fusion camera and the virt= ual=20 camera systems. While filming live action in real time with the simulcam, t= he=20 CGI images captured with the virtual camera or designed from scratch, are= =20 superimposed over the live action images as in augmented reality and shown = on a=20 small monitor, making it possible for the director to instruct the actors h= ow=20 to relate to the virtual material in the scene.[72] Due to Cameron's person= al=20 convictions about climate change, he allowed only plant-based (vegan) food = to=20 be served on set.=20 A number of innovative visual effects techniques were used during productio= n.=20 According to Cameron, work on the film had been delayed since the 1990s to= =20 allow the techniques to reach the necessary degree of advancement to adequa= tely=20 portray his vision of the film.[13][14] The director planned to make use of= =20 photorealistic computer-generated characters, created using new motion capt= ure=20 animation technologies he had been developing in the 14 months leading up t= o=20 December 2006.[74] Innovations include a new system for lighting massive ar= eas=20 like Pandora's jungle,[80] a motion-capture stage or "volume" six times lar= ger=20 than any previously used, and an improved method of capturing facial=20 expressions, enabling full performance capture. To achieve the face capturi= ng,=20 actors wore individually made skull caps fitted with a tiny camera position= ed=20 in front of the actors' faces; the information collected about their facial= =20 expressions and eyes is then transmitted to computers.[81] According to=20 Cameron, the method allows the filmmakers to transfer 100% of the actors'= =20 physical performances to their digital counterparts.[82] Besides the=20 performance capture data which were transferred directly to the computers,= =20 numerous reference cameras gave the digital artists multiple angles of each= =20 performance.[83] A technically challenging scene was near the end of the fi= lm=20 when the computer-generated Neytiri held the live action Jake in human form= ,=20 and attention was given to the details of the shadows and reflected light= =20 between them.[84] The lead visual effects company was Weta Digital in=20 Wellington, at one point employing 900 people to work on the film.[85] Beca= use=20 of the huge amount of data which needed to be stored, cataloged and availab= le=20 for everybody involved, even on the other side of the world, a new cloud=20 computing and Digital Asset Management (DAM) system named Gaia was created = by=20 Microsoft especially for Avatar, which allowed the crews to keep track of a= nd=20 coordinate all stages in the digital processing.[86] To render Avatar, Weta= =20 used a 930 m2 (10,000 sq ft) server farm making use of 4,000 Hewlett-Packar= d=20 servers with 35,000 processor cores with 104 terabytes of RAM and three=20 petabytes of network area storage running Ubuntu Linux, Grid Engine cluster= =20 manager, and 2 of the animation software and managers, Pixar's RenderMan an= d=20 Pixar's Alfred queue management system.[87][88][89][90] The render farm=20 occupies the 193rd to 197th spots in the TOP500 list of the world's most=20 powerful supercomputers. A new texturing and paint software system, called= =20 Mari, was developed by The Foundry in cooperation with Weta.[91][92] Creati= ng=20 the Na'vi characters and the virtual world of Pandora required over a petab= yte=20 of digital storage,[93] and each minute of the final footage for Avatar=20 occupies 17.28 gigabytes of storage.[94] It would often take the computer= =20 several hours to render a single frame of the film.[95] To help finish=20 preparing the special effects sequences on time, a number of other companie= s=20 were brought on board, including Industrial Light & Magic, which worked=20 alongside Weta Digital to create the battle sequences. ILM was responsible = for=20 the visual effects for many of the film's specialized vehicles and devised = a=20 new way to make CGI explosions.[96] Joe Letteri was the film's visual effec= ts=20 general supervisor.[97] Music and soundtrack Main article: Avatar: Music fr= om=20 the Motion Picture James Horner =E2=80=93 "Jake Enters His Avatar World" 0:= 32 listen to=20 a clip from the score of the 2009 film Avatar. Problems playing this file? = See=20 media help. Composer James Horner scored the film, his third collaboration = with=20 Cameron after Aliens and Titanic.[98] Horner recorded parts of the score wi= th a=20 small chorus singing in the alien language Na'vi in March 2008.[99] He also= =20 worked with Wanda Bryant, an ethnomusicologist, to create a music culture f= or=20 the alien race.[100] The first scoring sessions were planned to take place = in=20 early 2009.[101] During production, Horner promised Cameron that he would n= ot=20 work on any other project except for Avatar and reportedly worked on the sc= ore=20 from four in the morning until ten at night throughout the process. He stat= ed=20 in an interview, "Avatar has been the most difficult film I have worked on = and=20 the biggest job I have undertaken."[102] Horner composed the score as two= =20 different scores merged into one. He first created a score that reflected t= he=20 Na'vi way of sound and then combined it with a separate "traditional" score= to=20 drive the film.[72] British singer Leona Lewis was chosen to sing the theme= =20 song for the film, called "I See You". An accompanying music video, directe= d by=20 Jake Nava, premiered December 15, 2009, on MySpace. Below is an important message from one of our highly valued sponsors. Pleas= e=20 read it carefully as they have some special information to share with you. =E2=80=8A=20 Avatar is primarily an action-adventure journey of self-discovery, in the= =20 context of imperialism, and deep ecology.[104] Cameron said his inspiration= was=20 "every single science fiction book I read as a kid" and that he wanted to= =20 update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series.[11] He=20 acknowledged that Avatar shares themes with the films At Play in the Fields= of=20 the Lord, The Emerald Forest, and Princess Mononoke, which feature clashes= =20 between cultures and civilizations, and with Dances with Wolves, where a=20 battered soldier finds himself drawn to the culture he was initially fighti= ng=20 against.[105][106] He also cited Hayao Miyazaki's anime films such as Princ= ess=20 Mononoke as an influence on the ecosystem of Pandora.[106] In 2012, Cameron= =20 filed a 45-page legal declaration that intended to "describe in great detai= l=20 the genesis of the ideas, themes, storylines, and images that came to be=20 Avatar."[107] In addition to historical events (such as European colonizati= on=20 of the Americas), his life experiences and several of his unproduced projec= ts,=20 Cameron drew connections between Avatar and his previous films. He cited hi= s=20 script and concept art for Xenogenesis, partially produced as a short film,= as=20 being the basis for many of the ideas and visual designs in Avatar. He stat= ed=20 that Avatar's "concepts of a world mind, intelligence within nature, the id= ea=20 of projecting force or consciousness using an avatar, colonization of alien= =20 planets, greedy corporate interests backed up by military force, the story = of a=20 seemingly weaker group prevailing over a technologically superior force, an= d=20 the good scientist were all established and recurrent themes" from his earl= ier=20 films including Aliens, The Abyss, Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Terminat= or=20 and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He specifically mentioned the "water tentac= le"=20 in The Abyss as an example of an "avatar" that "takes on the appearance of.= ..an=20 alien life form...in order to bridge the cultural gap and build trust."[108= ]=20 Cameron also cited a number of works by other creators as "reference points= and=20 sources of inspiration" for Avatar. These include two of his "favorite" fil= ms,=20 2001: A Space Odyssey, where mankind experiences an evolution after meeting= =20 alien life, and Lawrence of Arabia, where "an outsider...encounters and=20 immerses into a foreign culture and then ultimately joins that group to fig= ht=20 other outsiders." Cameron said he became familiar with the concept of a hum= an=20 operating a "synthetic avatar" inside another world from George Henry Smith= 's=20 short story "In the Imagicon" and Arthur C. Clarke's novel The City and the= =20 Stars. He said he learned of the term "avatar" by reading the cyberpunk nov= els=20 Neuromancer by William Gibson and Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling. The= =20 idea of a "world mind" originated in the novel Solaris by Stanislaw Lem.=20 Cameron mentioned several other films about people interacting with "indige= nous=20 cultures" as inspiring him, including Dances with Wolves, The Man Who Would= Be=20 King, The Mission, The Emerald Forest, Medicine Man, The Jungle Book and=20 FernGully. He also cited as inspiration the John Carter and Tarzan stories = by=20 Edgar Rice Burroughs and other adventure stories by Rudyard Kipling and H.= =20 Rider Haggard.[108] In a 2007 interview with Time magazine, Cameron was ask= ed=20 about the meaning of the term Avatar, to which he replied, "It's an incarna= tion=20 of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form. In this film what that means = is=20 that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a human's= =20 intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body."[10] Cameron = also=20 cited the Japanese cyberpunk manga and anime Ghost in the Shell, in terms o= f=20 how humans can remotely control, and transfer their personalities into, ali= en=20 bodies.[109][110] For the love story between characters Jake and Neytiri,= =20 Cameron applied a star-crossed love theme, which he said was in the traditi= on=20 of Romeo and Juliet.[108] He acknowledged its similarity to the pairing of = Jack=20 and Rose from his film Titanic. An interviewer stated, "Both couples come f= rom=20 radically different cultures that are contemptuous of their relationship an= d=20 are forced to choose sides between the competing communities."[113] Cameron= =20 described Neytiri as his "Pocahontas," saying that his plotline followed th= e=20 historical story of a "white outsider [who] falls in love with the chief's= =20 daughter, who becomes his guide to the tribe and to their special bond with= =20 nature."[108] Cameron felt that whether or not the Jake and Neytiri love st= ory=20 would be perceived as believable partially hinged on the physical=20 attractiveness of Neytiri's alien appearance, which was developed by=20 considering her appeal to the all-male crew of artists.[114] Although Camer= on=20 felt Jake and Neytiri do not fall in love right away, their portrayers=20 (Worthington and Saldana) felt the characters did. Cameron said the two act= ors=20 "had a great chemistry" during filming.[113] A gray mountain in the middle = of a=20 forest. Pandora's floating "Hallelujah Mountains" were inspired in part by = the=20 Chinese Huangshan mountains (pictured).[115] Zhangjiajie National Forest Pa= rk=20 For the film's floating "Hallelujah Mountains", the designers drew inspirat= ion=20 from "many different types of mountains, but mainly the karst limestone=20 formations in China."[116] According to production designer Dylan Cole, the= =20 fictional floating rocks were inspired by Huangshan (also known as Yellow= =20 Mountain), Guilin, Zhangjiajie, among others around the world.[116] Cameron= had=20 noted the influence of the Chinese peaks on the design of the floating=20 mountains.[117] To create the interiors of the human mining colony on Pando= ra,=20 production designers visited the Noble Clyde Boudreaux[118] oil platform in= the=20 Gulf of Mexico during June 2007. They photographed, measured and filmed eve= ry=20 aspect of the platform, which was later replicated on-screen with=20 photorealistic CGI during post-production.=20 The first photo of the film was released on August 14, 2009,[124] and Empir= e=20 released exclusive images from the film in its October issue.[125] Cameron,= =20 producer Jon Landau, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver appear= ed=20 at a panel, moderated by Tom Rothman, at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con on Ju= ly=20 23. Twenty-five minutes of footage was screened[126] in Dolby 3D.[127] Weav= er=20 and Cameron appeared at additional panels to promote the film, speaking on = the=20 23rd[128] and 24th[129][130] respectively. James Cameron announced at the= =20 Comic-Con Avatar Panel that August 21 will be 'Avatar Day'. On this day, th= e=20 trailer was released in all theatrical formats. The official game trailer a= nd=20 toy line of the film were also unveiled on this day.[131] The 129-second=20 trailer was released online on August 20, 2009.[132] The new 210-second tra= iler=20 was premiered in theaters on October 23, 2009, then soon after premiered on= line=20 on Yahoo! on October 29, 2009, to positive reviews.[133][134] An extended= =20 version in IMAX 3D received overwhelmingly positive reviews.[132] The Holly= wood=20 Reporter said that audience expectations were colored by "the [same]=20 establishment skepticism that preceded Titanic" and suggested the showing= =20 reflected the desire for original storytelling.[135] The teaser has been am= ong=20 the most viewed trailers in the history of film marketing, reaching the fir= st=20 place of all trailers viewed on Apple.com with 4 million views.[136] On Oct= ober=20 30, to celebrate the opening of the first 3-D cinema in Vietnam, Fox allowe= d=20 Megastar Cinema to screen exclusive 16 minutes of Avatar to a number of=20 press.[137] The three-and-a-half-minute trailer of the film premiered live = on=20 November 1, 2009, during a Dallas Cowboys football game at Cowboys Stadium = in=20 Arlington, Texas, on the Diamond Vision screen, one of the world's largest= =20 video displays, and to TV audiences viewing the game on Fox. It is said to = be=20 the largest live motion picture trailer viewing in history.[138] The Coca-C= ola=20 Company collaborated with Fox to launch a worldwide marketing campaign to= =20 promote the film. The highlight of the campaign was the website AVTR.com.= =20 Specially marked bottles and cans of Coca-Cola Zero, when held in front of = a=20 webcam, enabled users to interact with the website's 3-D features using=20 augmented reality (AR) technology.[139] The film was heavily promoted in an= =20 episode of the Fox series Bones in the episode "The Gamer In The Grease"=20 (Season 5, Episode 9). Avatar star Joel David Moore has a recurring role on= the=20 program, and is seen in the episode anxiously awaiting the release of the= =20 film.[140] A week prior to the American release, Zoe Saldana promoted the f= ilm=20 on Adult Swim when she was interviewed by an animated Space Ghost.[141]=20 McDonald's had a promotion mentioned in television commercials in Europe ca= lled=20 "Avatarize yourself", which encouraged people to go to the website set up b= y=20 Oddcast, and use a photograph of themselves to change into a Na'vi.[142] Bo= oks=20 Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pando= ra,=20 a 224-page book in the form of a field guide to the film's fictional settin= g of=20 the planet of Pandora, was released by Harper Entertainment on November 24,= =20 2009.[143] It is presented as a compilation of data collected by the humans= =20 about Pandora and the life on it, written by Maria Wilhelm and Dirk Mathiso= n.=20 HarperFestival also released Wilhelm's 48-page James Cameron's Avatar: The= =20 Reusable Scrapbook for children.[144] The Art of Avatar was released on=20 November 30, 2009, by Abrams Books. The book features detailed production= =20 artwork from the film, including production sketches, illustrations by Lisa= =20 Fitzpatrick, and film stills. Producer Jon Landau wrote the foreword, Camer= on=20 wrote the epilogue, and director Peter Jackson wrote the preface.[145] In= =20 October 2010, Abrams Books also released The Making of Avatar, a 272-page b= ook=20 that detailed the film's production process and contains over 500 color=20 photographs and illustrations.[146] In a 2009 interview, Cameron said that = he=20 planned to write a novel version of Avatar after the film was released.[147= ] In=20 February 2010, producer Jon Landau stated that Cameron plans a prequel nove= l=20 for Avatar that will "lead up to telling the story of the movie, but it wou= ld=20 go into much more depth about all the stories that we didn't have time to d= eal=20 with", saying that "Jim wants to write a novel that is a big, epic story th= at=20 fills in a lot of things".[148] In August 2013 it was announced that Camero= n=20 hired Steven Gould to pen four standalone novels to expand the Avatar=20 universe.[149] ance Post released a special limited edition stamp based on= =20 Avatar, coinciding with the film's worldwide release. Dear concerned American, Hello. I=E2=80=99m James Altucher. I=E2=80=99ve been called a =E2=80=9Cgenius investor=E2=80=9D by my fans=E2= =80=A6 And an =E2=80=9Ceccentric millionaire=E2=80=9D by some others. I think it=E2=80=99s because I make big predictions=E2=80=A6 That tend to come true=20 . Today, I=E2=80=99m revealing a brand-new prediction: American manufacturing will leave China=E2=80=A6 And make a triumphant return to America=E2=80=A6 Thanks to AI-powered robots. The technology is being developed right now. I=E2=80=99m talking about, among others=E2=80=A6 Elon Musk=E2=80=99s Optimus robots=20 . These robots are autonomous workers=E2=80=A6 Embedded with a smart =E2=80=9CAI brain=E2=80=9D. Musk is going to use thousands of them in Tesla factories=E2=80=A6 AI robots will make it cheaper to manufacture goods here in America than Ch= ina. And they=E2=80=99ll create new American jobs in construction, maintenance,= =20 transportation, management, and more. Musk believes the potential of these robots is almost limitless=E2=80=A6 And could soon exceed Tesla=E2=80=99s revenues=E2=80=A6 He=E2=80=99s even said his robots have the potential to be used in homes=E2= =80=A6 To make dinner and do housework=E2=80=A6 Care for the elderly=E2=80=A6 Or even hinted at them=E2=80=A6 Being a buddy or =E2=80=9Cromantic companion=E2=80=9D for lonely people.=20 Now that may sound strange=E2=80=A6 (And perhaps it is.) But I=E2=80=99ve learned not to bet against Musk=E2=80=99s vision. And this is just one of the ways AI will transform our economy and society. In fact, I now predict=E2=80=A6 Between now and January 9, 2024=E2=80=A6 Next generation AI technology will open a =E2=80=9Cwealth window=E2=80=9D= =20 =E2=80= =A6 That could be the biggest wealth-building opportunity of your lifetime. I now expect AI to be the first $100 TRILLION industry. There could be trillions available to those who get in early=E2=80=A6 Today, for the first time=E2=80=A6 I=E2=80=99m showing good Americans exactly what to do=E2=80=A6 Go here now to see my plan=E2=80=A6=20 For investing in AI during this brief =E2=80=9Cwealth window=E2=80=9D.=20 To your good fortune, James Altucher Best-selling author; hedge fund manager; entrepreneur P.S. If you missed out on crypto, this could be your second chance. The AI= =20 =E2=80=9Cwealth window=E2=80=9D is opening now, but you must get in before = January 9, 2024.=20 Don=E2=80=99t delay.See all the details you need here=20 =20 Initial screening Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was= =20 released theatrically worldwide from December 16 to 18.[156] The film was= =20 originally set for release on May 22, 2009, during filming[157] but was pus= hed=20 back to allow more post-production time (the last shots were delivered in= =20 November)[80] and give more time for theaters worldwide to install 3D=20 projectors.[158] Cameron stated that the film's aspect ratio would be 1.78:= 1=20 for 3D screenings and that a 2.39:1 image would be extracted for 2D=20 screenings.[159][160] However, a 3D 2.39:1 extract was approved for use wit= h=20 constant-image-height screens (i.e., screens that increase in width to disp= lay=20 2.39:1 films).[161] During a 3D preview showing in Germany on December 16, = the=20 movie's DRM "protection" system malfunctioned, and some copies delivered=20 weren=E2=80=99t watched at all in the theaters. The problems were fixed in = time for the=20 public premiere.[162] Avatar was released in a total of 3,457 theaters in t= he=20 US, of which 2,032 theaters showed it in 3D. In total, 90% of all advance= =20 ticket sales for Avatar were for 3D screenings.[163] Internationally, Avata= r=20 opened on a total of 14,604 screens in 106 territories, of which 3,671 were= =20 showing the film in 3D (producing 56% of the first weekend gross).[164][165= ]=20 The film was simultaneously presented in IMAX 3D format, opening in 178=20 theaters in the United States on December 18. The international IMAX releas= e=20 included 58 theaters beginning on December 16, and 25 more theaters were to= be=20 added in the coming weeks.[166] The IMAX release was the company's widest t= o=20 date, a total of 261 theaters worldwide. The previous IMAX record opening w= as=20 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which opened in 161 IMAX theaters i= n=20 the US, and about 70 international.[167] 20th Century Fox Korea adapted and= =20 later released Avatar in 4D version, which included "moving seats, smells o= f=20 explosives, sprinkling water, laser lights and wind".[20] Post-original rel= ease=20 In July 2010, Cameron confirmed that there would be an extended theatrical= =20 rerelease of the film on August 27, 2010, exclusively in 3D theaters and IM= AX=20 3D.[168] Avatar: Special Edition includes an additional nine minutes of=20 footage, all of which is CG,[169] including an extension of the sex scene[1= 70]=20 and various other scenes that were cut from the original theatrical film.[1= 69]=20 This extended re-release resulted in the film's run time approaching the=20 then-current IMAX platter maximum of 170 minutes, thereby leaving less time= for=20 the end credits. Cameron stated that the nine minutes of added scenes cost = more=20 than $1 million a minute to produce and finish.[171] During its 12-week=20 re-release, Avatar: Special Edition grossed an additional $10.74 million in= =20 North America and $22.46 million overseas for a worldwide total of $33.2=20 million.[5] The film was later re-released in China in March 2021, allowing= it=20 to surpass Avengers: Endgame to become the highest-grossing film of all=20 time.[24] Avatar was re-released in theaters on September 23, 2022, by Walt= =20 Disney Studios Motion Pictures for a limited two week engagement, with the = film=20 being remastered in 4K high-dynamic range, with select scenes at a high fra= me=20 rate of 48-frames-per-second.[172] The reissue was prior to the December 20= 22=20 premiere of its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.[173] Prior to this, Camer= on=20 previously teased a re-release of the film back in 2017 when promoting the= =20 Dolby Cinema re-release of Titanic, stating that there were plans in the wo= rks=20 to remaster the film with Dolby Vision and re-release it in Dolby Cinema. Home media 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on DVD and= =20 Blu-ray in the US on April 22, 2010,[175] and in the UK on April 26.[176] T= he=20 US release was not on a Tuesday as is the norm, but was done to coincide wi= th=20 Earth Day.[177] The first DVD and Blu-ray release does not contain any=20 supplemental features other than the theatrical film and the disc menu in f= avor=20 of and to make space for optimal picture and sound. The release also preser= ves=20 the film's native 1.78:1 (16:9) format as Cameron felt that was the best fo= rmat=20 to watch the film.[178] The Blu-ray disc contains DRM (BD+ 5) which some=20 Blu-ray players might not support without a firmware update.[179][180] Avat= ar=20 set a first-day launch record in the U.S. for Blu-ray sales at 1.5 million= =20 units sold, breaking the record previously held by The Dark Knight (600,000= =20 units sold). First-day DVD and Blu-ray sales combined were over four millio= n=20 units sold.[181] In its first four days of release, sales of Avatar on Blu-= ray=20 reached 2.7 million in the United States and Canada =E2=80=93 overtaking Th= e Dark=20 Knight to become the best ever selling Blu-ray release in the region.[182][= 183]=20 The release later broke the Blu-ray sales record in the UK the following=20 week.[184] In its first three weeks of release, the film sold a total of 19= .7=20 million DVD and Blu-ray discs combined, a new record for sales in that=20 period.[185] As of July 18, 2012, DVD sales (not including Blu-ray) totaled= =20 over 10.5 million units sold with $190,806,055 in revenue.[186] Avatar reta= ined=20 its record as the top-selling Blu-ray in the US market until January 2015, = when=20 it was surpassed by Disney's Frozen.[187] The Avatar three-disc Extended=20 Collector's Edition on DVD and Blu-ray was released on November 16, 2010. T= hree=20 different versions of the film are present on the discs: the original=20 theatrical cut (162 minutes), the special edition cut (170 minutes), and a= =20 collector's extended cut (178 minutes). The DVD set spreads the film across= two=20 discs, while the Blu-ray set presents it on a single disc.[188] The collect= or's=20 extended cut contains 8 more minutes of footage, thus making it 16 minutes= =20 longer than the original theatrical cut. Cameron mentioned, "you can sit do= wn,=20 and in a continuous screening of the film, watch it with the Earth opening"= . He=20 stated the "Earth opening" is an additional 4+1=E2=81=842 minutes of scenes= that were=20 in the film for much of its production but were ultimately cut before the= =20 film's theatrical release.[189] The release also includes an additional 45= =20 minutes of deleted scenes and other extras.[188] Cameron initially stated t= hat=20 Avatar would be released in 3D around November 2010, but the studio issued = a=20 correction: "3-D is in the conceptual stage and Avatar will not be out on 3= D=20 Blu-ray in November."[190] In May 2010, Fox stated that the 3D version woul= d be=20 released some time in 2011.[185] It was later revealed that Fox had given= =20 Panasonic an exclusive license for the 3D Blu-ray version and only with the= =20 purchase of a Panasonic 3DTV. The length of Panasonic's exclusivity period = is=20 stated to last until February 2012.[191] On October 2010, Cameron stated th= at=20 the standalone 3D Blu-ray would be the final version of the film's home rel= ease=20 and that it was "maybe one, two years out".[192] On Christmas Eve 2010, Ava= tar=20 had its 3D television world premiere on Sky.[193][194][195] On August 13, 2= 012,=20 Cameron announced on Facebook that Avatar would be released globally on Blu= -ray=20 3D.[196] The Blu-ray 3D version was finally released on October 16, 2012.[1= 97]=20 Reception Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 31= 9=20 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 7.4/10. The site's consensu= s=20 reads, "It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of= =20 storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for=20 imaginative, absorbing filmmaking."[198] On Metacritic =E2=80=94 which assi= gns a=20 weighted mean score =E2=80=94 the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based o= n 35=20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[199] Audiences polled by CinemaSco= re=20 gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Every demographi= c=20 surveyed was reported to give this rating. These polls also indicated that = the=20 main draw of the film was its use of 3D.[200] Roger Ebert of the Chicago=20 Sun-Times called the film "extraordinary" and gave it four stars out of fou= r.=20 "Watching Avatar, I felt sort of the same as when I saw Star Wars in 1977,"= he=20 said, adding that like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship = of=20 the Ring, the film "employs a new generation of special effects" and it "is= not=20 simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical= =20 breakthrough. It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message".[201] A. O. Sco= tt=20 of At The Movies also compared his viewing of the film to the first time he= =20 viewed Star Wars and he said "although the script is a little bit ... obvio= us,"=20 it was "part of what made it work".[202][203] Todd McCarthy of Variety prai= sed=20 the film, saying "The King of the World sets his sights on creating another= =20 world entirely in Avatar, and it's very much a place worth visiting."[204] = Kirk=20 Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review. "The= =20 screen is alive with more action and the soundtrack pops with more robust m= usic=20 than any dozen sci-fi shoot-'em-ups you care to mention," he stated.[205] P= eter=20 Travers of Rolling Stone awarded Avatar a three-and-a-half out of four star= =20 rating and wrote in his print review "It extends the possibilities of what= =20 movies can do. Cameron's talent may just be as big as his dreams."[206] Ric= hard=20 Corliss of Time magazine thought that the film was "the most vivid and=20 convincing creation of a fantasy world ever seen in the history of moving= =20 pictures."[207] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times thought the film has= =20 "powerful" visual accomplishments but "flat dialogue" and "obvious=20 characterization".[208] James Berardinelli of ReelViews praised the film an= d=20 its story, giving it four out of four stars; he wrote "In 3-D, it's immersi= ve =E2=80=93=20 but the traditional film elements =E2=80=93 story, character, editing, them= e, emotional=20 resonance, etc. =E2=80=93 are presented with sufficient expertise to make e= ven the 2-D=20 version an engrossing 2+1=E2=81=842-hour experience."[209] Avatar's underly= ing social=20 and political themes attracted attention. Armond White of the New York Pres= s=20 wrote that Cameron used "villainous American characters" to "misrepresent= =20 facets of militarism, capitalism, and imperialism".[210][211] Russell D. Mo= ore=20 of The Christian Post concluded that "propaganda exists in the film" and st= ated=20 "If you can get a theater full of people in Kentucky to stand and applaud t= he=20 defeat of their country in war, then you've got some amazing special=20 effects."[212] Adam Cohen of The New York Times was more positive about the= =20 film, calling its anti-imperialist message "a 22nd-century version of the= =20 American colonists vs. the British, India vs. the Raj, or Latin America vs.= =20 United Fruit".[213] Ross Douthat of The New York Times opined that the film= is=20 "Cameron's long apologia for pantheism [...] Hollywood's religion of choice= for=20 a generation now",[214] while Saritha Prabhu of The Tennessean called the f= ilm=20 a "misportrayal of pantheism and Eastern spirituality in general",[215] and= =20 Maxim Osipov of The Hindustan Times, on the contrary, commended the film's= =20 message for its overall consistency with the teachings of Hinduism in the= =20 Bhagavad Gita.[216] Annalee Newitz of io9 concluded that Avatar is another = film=20 that has the recurring "fantasy about race" whereby "some white guy" become= s=20 the "most awesome" member of a non-white culture.[217] Michael Phillips of = the=20 Chicago Tribune called Avatar "the season's ideological Rorschach blot",[21= 8]=20 while Miranda Devine of The Sydney Morning Herald thought that "It [was]=20 impossible to watch Avatar without being banged over the head with the=20 director's ideological hammer."[219] Nidesh Lawtoo believed that an essenti= al,=20 yet less visible social theme that contributed to Avatar's success concerns= =20 contemporary fascinations with virtual avatars and "the transition from the= =20 world of reality to that of virtual reality".[220] Critics and audiences ha= ve=20 cited similarities with other films, literature or media, describing the=20 perceived connections in ways ranging from simple "borrowing" to outright= =20 plagiarism. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe called it "the same movie" as Dance= s=20 with Wolves.[221] Like Dances with Wolves, Avatar has been characterized as= =20 being a "white savior" movie, in which a "backwards" native people is impot= ent=20 without the leadership of a member of the invading white culture.[222][223]= =20 Parallels to the concept and use of an avatar are in Poul Anderson's 1957= =20 novelette "Call Me Joe", in which a paralyzed man uses his mind from orbit = to=20 control an artificial body on Jupiter.[224][225] Cinema audiences in Russia= =20 have noted that Avatar has elements in common with the 1960s Noon Universe= =20 novels by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, which are set in the 22nd century on= a=20 forested world called Pandora with a sentient indigenous species called the= =20 Nave.[226] Various reviews have compared Avatar to the films FernGully: The= =20 Last Rainforest,[227][228] Pocahontas[229] and The Last Samurai.[230] NPR's= =20 Morning Edition has compared the film to a montage of tropes, with one=20 commentator stating that Avatar was made by "mixing a bunch of film scripts= in=20 a blender".[231] Gary Westfahl wrote that "the science fiction story that m= ost=20 closely resembles Avatar has to be Ursula Le Guin's novella The Word for Wo= rld=20 Is Forest (1972), another epic about a benevolent race of alien beings who= =20 happily inhabit dense forests while living in harmony with nature until the= y=20 are attacked and slaughtered by invading human soldiers who believe that th= e=20 only good gook is a dead gook".[225] The science fiction writer and editor= =20 Gardner Dozois said that along with the Anderson and Le Guin stories, the= =20 "mash-up" included Alan Dean Foster's 1975 novel, Midworld.[232] Some sourc= es=20 saw similarities to the artwork of Roger Dean, which features fantastic ima= ges=20 of dragons and floating rock formations.[233][234] In 2013, Dean sued Camer= on=20 and Fox, claiming that Pandora was inspired by 14 of his images. Dean sough= t=20 damages of $50m.[235] Dean's case was dismissed in 2014, and The Hollywood= =20 Reporter noted that Cameron had won multiple Avatar idea theft cases.[236]= =20 Avatar received compliments from filmmakers, with Steven Spielberg praising= it=20 as "the most evocative and amazing science-fiction movie since Star Wars" a= nd=20 others calling it "audacious and awe inspiring", "master class", and=20 "brilliant". Noted art director-turned-filmmaker Roger Christian is also a= =20 noted fan of the film.[237] On the other hand, Duncan Jones said: "It's not= in=20 my top three James Cameron films. ... [A]t what point in the film did you h= ave=20 any doubt what was going to happen next?".[238] For French filmmaker Luc=20 Besson, Avatar opened the doors for him to now create an adaptation of the= =20 graphic novel series Val=C3=A9rian and Laureline that technologically suppo= rts the=20 scope of its source material, with Besson even throwing his original script= in=20 the trash and redoing it after seeing the film.[239] TIME ranked Avatar num= ber=20 3 in their list of "The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)"[24= 0]=20 also earning it a spot on the magazine's All-Time 100 list,[241] and IGN li= sted=20 Avatar as number 22 on their list of the top 25 Sci-Fi movies of all time.= =20 You are receiving this e-mail because you have expressed an =D1=96nterest i= n the=20 Financial Education niche on one of our landing pages or sign-up f=D0=BErms= . This ad is sent on behalf of Paradigm Press, LLC, at 808 St. Paul Street,= =20 Baltimore MD 21202. If you're not interested in this opportunity from Parad= igm=20 Press, LLC, pleaseclick here to re= move=20 your email from these offers. This offer is brought to you by Smart People Mail. 221 W 9th St # Wilmingt= on,=20 DE 19801 USA. If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving offers brough= t to=20 you by Smart People Mailclick here.=20 Got questions? We=E2=80=99ve got answers! Connect with our friendly suppor= t team to=20 get the help you need, when you need it, simply send an email to=20 abuse@smartpeoplemail.com. You=E2=80=99ll receive a response within 24 hour= s.=20 SmartPeopleMail.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively= =20 "The Company") do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertis= ed=20 above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only a= nd=20 should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is n= ot=20 affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific securi= ty.l=20 =20 Email sent by Finance and Investing Traffic, LLC, owner and operator of Sma= rt=20 People Mail.=20 To ensure you receive our email, be sure to whitelist.us.=20 =20 =C2=A9 2023 Smart People Mail. All Rights Reserved.=20 221 W 9th St # Wilmington, DE 19801 USA=20 Privacy Policy | Terms &=20 Conditions | Unsubscribe = =20 =20 After the film's release and unusually strong box office performance over = its=20 first two weeks, it was debated as the one film capable of surpassing Titan= ic's=20 worldwide gross, and its continued strength perplexed box office analysts.[= 294]=20 Other films in recent years had been cited as contenders for surpassing=20 Titanic, such as 2008's The Dark Knight,[295] but Avatar was considered the= =20 first film with a genuine chance to do so, and its numbers being aided by= =20 higher ticket prices for 3D screenings[294] did not fully explain its succe= ss=20 to box office analysts. "Most films are considered to be healthy if they ma= nage=20 anything less than a 50% drop from their first weekend to their second. Dip= ping=20 just 11% from the first to the third is unheard of," said Paul Dergarabedia= n,=20 president of box-office analysis for Hollywood.com. "This is just=20 unprecedented. I had to do a double take. I thought it was a=20 miscalculation."[296] Analysts predicted second place for the film's worldw= ide=20 gross, but most were uncertain about it surpassing Titanic because "Today's= =20 films flame out much faster than they did when Titanic was released."[296]= =20 Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, believed in the film's chances = of=20 becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, though he also believed it = was=20 too early to surmise because it had only played during the holidays. He sai= d,=20 "While Avatar may beat Titanic's record, it will be tough, and the film is= =20 unlikely to surpass Titanic in attendance. Ticket prices were about $3 chea= per=20 in the late 1990s."[296] Cameron said he did not think it was realistic to = "try=20 to topple Titanic off its perch" because it "just struck some kind of chord= "=20 and there had been other good films in recent years.[297] He changed his=20 prediction by mid-January. "It's gonna happen. It's just a matter of time,"= he=20 said.[298] You've got to compete head on with these other epic works of fan= tasy=20 and fiction, the Tolkiens and the Star Wars and the Star Treks. People want= a=20 persistent alternate reality to invest themselves in and they want the deta= il=20 that makes it rich and worth their time. They want to live somewhere else. = Like=20 Pandora. James Cameron on the success of Avatar[299] Although analysts have= =20 been unable to agree that Avatar's success is attributable to one primary= =20 factor, several explanations have been advanced. First, January is historic= ally=20 "the dumping ground for the year's weakest films", and this also applied to= =20 2010.[300] Cameron himself said he decided to open the film in December so = that=20 it would have less competition from then to January.[287] Titanic capitaliz= ed=20 on the same January predictability, and earned most of its gross in 1998.[3= 00]=20 Additionally, Avatar established itself as a "must-see" event. Gray said, "= At=20 this point, people who are going to see Avatar are going to see Avatar and= =20 would even if the slate was strong."[300] Marketing the film as a "novelty= =20 factor" also helped. Fox positioned the film as a cinematic event that shou= ld=20 be seen in the theaters. "It's really hard to sell the idea that you can ha= ve=20 the same experience at home," stated David Mumpower, an analyst at=20 BoxOfficeProphets.com.[300] The "Oscar buzz" surrounding the film and=20 international viewings helped. "Two-thirds of Titanic's haul was earned=20 overseas, and Avatar [tracked] similarly ...Avatar opened in 106 markets=20 globally and was No. 1 in all of them", and the markets "such as Russia, wh= ere=20 Titanic saw modest receipts in 1997 and 1998, are white-hot today" with "mo= re=20 screens and moviegoers" than before.[300] According to Variety, films in 3D= =20 accumulated $1.3 billion in 2009, "a threefold increase over 2008 and more = than=20 10% of the total 2009 box-office gross". The increased ticket price =E2=80= =93 an=20 average of $2 to $3 per ticket in most markets =E2=80=93 helped the film.[3= 00]=20 Likewise, Entertainment Weekly attributed the film's success to 3D glasses = but=20 also to its "astronomic word-of-mouth". Not only do some theaters charge up= to=20 $18.50 for IMAX tickets, but "the buzz" created by the new technology was t= he=20 possible cause for sold-out screenings.[301] Gray said Avatar having no bas= is=20 in previously established material makes its performance remarkable and eve= n=20 more impressive. "The movie might be derivative of many movies in its story= and=20 themes," he said, "but it had no direct antecedent like the other top-gross= ing=20 films: Titanic (historical events), the Star Wars movies (an established fi= lm=20 franchise), or The Lord of the Rings (literature). It was a tougher sell=20 ..."[300] The Hollywood Reporter estimated that after a combined production= and=20 promotion cost of between $387=E2=80=93437 million, the film turned a net p= rofit of=20 $1.2 billion. ------=_Part_216000_774225109.1700156015399 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Amer= ican manufacturing will leave China=E2=80=A6 And make a triumphant return t= o America=E2=80=A6
=
Principal photography for Ava= tar began in April 2007 in Los Angeles and Wellington. Cameron described th= e film as a hybrid with a full live-action shoot in combination with comput= er-generated characters and live environments. "Ideally at the end of the d= ay the audience has no idea which they're looking at," Cameron said. The di= rector indicated that he had already worked four months on nonprincipal sce= nes for the film.[66] The live action was shot with a modified version of t= he proprietary digital 3-D Fusion Camera System, developed by Cameron and V= ince Pace.[67] In January 2007, Fox had announced that 3-D filming for Avat= ar would be done at 24 frames per second despite Cameron's strong opinion t= hat a 3-D film requires higher frame rate to make strobing less noticeable.= [68] According to Cameron, the film is composed of 60% computer-generated e= lements and 40% live action, as well as traditional miniatures.[69] Motion-= capture photography lasted 31 days at the Hughes Aircraft stage in Playa Vi= sta in Los Angeles.[54][70] Live action photography began in October 2007 a= t Stone Street Studios in Wellington and was scheduled to last 31 days.[71]= More than a thousand people worked on the production.[70] In preparation o= f the filming sequences, all of the actors underwent professional training = specific to their characters such as archery, horseback riding, firearm use= , and hand-to-hand combat. They received language and dialect training in t= he Na'vi language created for the film.[72] Before shooting the film, Camer= on also sent the cast to the Hawaiian tropical rainforests[73] to get a fee= l for a rainforest setting before shooting on the soundstage.[72] During fi= lming, Cameron made use of his virtual camera system, a new way of directin= g motion-capture filmmaking. The system shows the actors' virtual counterpa= rts in their digital surroundings in real time, allowing the director to ad= just and direct scenes just as if shooting live action. According to Camero= n, "It's like a big, powerful game engine. If I want to fly through space, = or change my perspective, I can. I can turn the whole scene into a living m= iniature and go through it on a 50 to 1 scale."[74] Using conventional tech= niques, the complete virtual world cannot be seen until the motion-capture = of the actors is complete. Cameron said this process does not diminish the = value or importance of acting. On the contrary, because there is no need fo= r repeated camera and lighting setups, costume fittings and make-up touch-u= ps, scenes do not need to be interrupted repeatedly.[75] Cameron described = the system as a "form of pure creation where if you want to move a tree or = a mountain or the sky or change the time of day, you have complete control = over the elements".[76] Cameron gave fellow directors Steven Spielberg and = Peter Jackson a chance to test the new technology.[65] Spielberg said, "I l= ike to think of it as digital makeup, not augmented animation ... Motion ca= pture brings the director back to a kind of intimacy that actors and direct= ors only know when they're working in live theater."[75] Spielberg and Geor= ge Lucas were also able to visit the set to watch Cameron direct with the e= quipment.[77] To film the shots where CGI interacts with live action, a uni= que camera referred to as a "simulcam" was used, a merger of the 3-D fusion= camera and the virtual camera systems. While filming live action in real t= ime with the simulcam, the CGI images captured with the virtual camera or d= esigned from scratch, are superimposed over the live action images as in au= gmented reality and shown on a small monitor, making it possible for the di= rector to instruct the actors how to relate to the virtual material in the = scene.[72] Due to Cameron's personal convictions about climate change, he a= llowed only plant-based (vegan) food to be served on set.
=
=
A number of innovative visual effects techniques were used during prod= uction. According to Cameron, work on the film had been delayed since the 1= 990s to allow the techniques to reach the necessary degree of advancement t= o adequately portray his vision of the film.[13][14] The director planned t= o make use of photorealistic computer-generated characters, created using n= ew motion capture animation technologies he had been developing in the 14 m= onths leading up to December 2006.[74] Innovations include a new system for= lighting massive areas like Pandora's jungle,[80] a motion-capture stage o= r "volume" six times larger than any previously used, and an improved metho= d of capturing facial expressions, enabling full performance capture. To ac= hieve the face capturing, actors wore individually made skull caps fitted w= ith a tiny camera positioned in front of the actors' faces; the information= collected about their facial expressions and eyes is then transmitted to c= omputers.[81] According to Cameron, the method allows the filmmakers to tra= nsfer 100% of the actors' physical performances to their digital counterpar= ts.[82] Besides the performance capture data which were transferred directl= y to the computers, numerous reference cameras gave the digital artists mul= tiple angles of each performance.[83] A technically challenging scene was n= ear the end of the film when the computer-generated Neytiri held the live a= ction Jake in human form, and attention was given to the details of the sha= dows and reflected light between them.[84] The lead visual effects company = was Weta Digital in Wellington, at one point employing 900 people to work o= n the film.[85] Because of the huge amount of data which needed to be store= d, cataloged and available for everybody involved, even on the other side o= f the world, a new cloud computing and Digital Asset Management (DAM) syste= m named Gaia was created by Microsoft especially for Avatar, which allowed = the crews to keep track of and coordinate all stages in the digital process= ing.[86] To render Avatar, Weta used a 930 m2 (10,000 sq ft) server farm ma= king use of 4,000 Hewlett-Packard servers with 35,000 processor cores with = 104 terabytes of RAM and three petabytes of network area storage running Ub= untu Linux, Grid Engine cluster manager, and 2 of the animation software an= d managers, Pixar's RenderMan and Pixar's Alfred queue management system.[8= 7][88][89][90] The render farm occupies the 193rd to 197th spots in the TOP= 500 list of the world's most powerful supercomputers. A new texturing and p= aint software system, called Mari, was developed by The Foundry in cooperat= ion with Weta.[91][92] Creating the Na'vi characters and the virtual world = of Pandora required over a petabyte of digital storage,[93] and each minute= of the final footage for Avatar occupies 17.28 gigabytes of storage.[94] I= t would often take the computer several hours to render a single frame of t= he film.[95] To help finish preparing the special effects sequences on time= , a number of other companies were brought on board, including Industrial L= ight & Magic, which worked alongside Weta Digital to create the battle sequ= ences. ILM was responsible for the visual effects for many of the film's sp= ecialized vehicles and devised a new way to make CGI explosions.[96] Joe Le= tteri was the film's visual effects general supervisor.[97] Music and sound= track Main article: Avatar: Music from the Motion Picture James Horner =E2= =80=93 "Jake Enters His Avatar World" 0:32 listen to a clip from the score = of the 2009 film Avatar. Problems playing this file? See media help. Compos= er James Horner scored the film, his third collaboration with Cameron after= Aliens and Titanic.[98] Horner recorded parts of the score with a small ch= orus singing in the alien language Na'vi in March 2008.[99] He also worked = with Wanda Bryant, an ethnomusicologist, to create a music culture for the = alien race.[100] The first scoring sessions were planned to take place in e= arly 2009.[101] During production, Horner promised Cameron that he would no= t work on any other project except for Avatar and reportedly worked on the = score from four in the morning until ten at night throughout the process. H= e stated in an interview, "Avatar has been the most difficult film I have w= orked on and the biggest job I have undertaken."[102] Horner composed the s= core as two different scores merged into one. He first created a score that= reflected the Na'vi way of sound and then combined it with a separate "tra= ditional" score to drive the film.[72] British singer Leona Lewis was chose= n to sing the theme song for the film, called "I See You". An accompanying = music video, directed by Jake Nava, premiered December 15, 2009, on MySpace= .

Below is an important message from one of our highly valued sponsors. Pl= ease read it carefully as they have some special information to share with = you.

 
Avatar is primarily an action-adventure journey of self-discovery, i= n the context of imperialism, and deep ecology.[104] Cameron said his inspi= ration was "every single science fiction book I read as a kid" and that he = wanted to update the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter series.[11]= He acknowledged that Avatar shares themes with the films At Play in the Fi= elds of the Lord, The Emerald Forest, and Princess Mononoke, which feature = clashes between cultures and civilizations, and with Dances with Wolves, wh= ere a battered soldier finds himself drawn to the culture he was initially = fighting against.[105][106] He also cited Hayao Miyazaki's anime films such= as Princess Mononoke as an influence on the ecosystem of Pandora.[106] In = 2012, Cameron filed a 45-page legal declaration that intended to "describe = in great detail the genesis of the ideas, themes, storylines, and images th= at came to be Avatar."[107] In addition to historical events (such as Europ= ean colonization of the Americas), his life experiences and several of his = unproduced projects, Cameron drew connections between Avatar and his previo= us films. He cited his script and concept art for Xenogenesis, partially pr= oduced as a short film, as being the basis for many of the ideas and visual= designs in Avatar. He stated that Avatar's "concepts of a world mind, inte= lligence within nature, the idea of projecting force or consciousness using= an avatar, colonization of alien planets, greedy corporate interests backe= d up by military force, the story of a seemingly weaker group prevailing ov= er a technologically superior force, and the good scientist were all establ= ished and recurrent themes" from his earlier films including Aliens, The Ab= yss, Rambo: First Blood Part II, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment = Day. He specifically mentioned the "water tentacle" in The Abyss as an exam= ple of an "avatar" that "takes on the appearance of...an alien life form...= in order to bridge the cultural gap and build trust."[108] Cameron also cit= ed a number of works by other creators as "reference points and sources of = inspiration" for Avatar. These include two of his "favorite" films, 2001: A= Space Odyssey, where mankind experiences an evolution after meeting alien = life, and Lawrence of Arabia, where "an outsider...encounters and immerses = into a foreign culture and then ultimately joins that group to fight other = outsiders." Cameron said he became familiar with the concept of a human ope= rating a "synthetic avatar" inside another world from George Henry Smith's = short story "In the Imagicon" and Arthur C. Clarke's novel The City and the= Stars. He said he learned of the term "avatar" by reading the cyberpunk no= vels Neuromancer by William Gibson and Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling= . The idea of a "world mind" originated in the novel Solaris by Stanislaw L= em. Cameron mentioned several other films about people interacting with "in= digenous cultures" as inspiring him, including Dances with Wolves, The Man = Who Would Be King, The Mission, The Emerald Forest, Medicine Man, The Jungl= e Book and FernGully. He also cited as inspiration the John Carter and Tarz= an stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and other adventure stories by Rudyard K= ipling and H. Rider Haggard.[108] In a 2007 interview with Time magazine, C= ameron was asked about the meaning of the term Avatar, to which he replied,= "It's an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form. In this= film what that means is that the human technology in the future is capable= of injecting a human's intelligence into a remotely located body, a biolog= ical body."[10] Cameron also cited the Japanese cyberpunk manga and anime G= host in the Shell, in terms of how humans can remotely control, and transfe= r their personalities into, alien bodies.[109][110] For the love story betw= een characters Jake and Neytiri, Cameron applied a star-crossed love theme,= which he said was in the tradition of Romeo and Juliet.[108] He acknowledg= ed its similarity to the pairing of Jack and Rose from his film Titanic. An= interviewer stated, "Both couples come from radically different cultures t= hat are contemptuous of their relationship and are forced to choose sides b= etween the competing communities."[113] Cameron described Neytiri as his "P= ocahontas," saying that his plotline followed the historical story of a "wh= ite outsider [who] falls in love with the chief's daughter, who becomes his= guide to the tribe and to their special bond with nature."[108] Cameron fe= lt that whether or not the Jake and Neytiri love story would be perceived a= s believable partially hinged on the physical attractiveness of Neytiri's a= lien appearance, which was developed by considering her appeal to the all-m= ale crew of artists.[114] Although Cameron felt Jake and Neytiri do not fal= l in love right away, their portrayers (Worthington and Saldana) felt the c= haracters did. Cameron said the two actors "had a great chemistry" during f= ilming.[113] A gray mountain in the middle of a forest. Pandora's floating = "Hallelujah Mountains" were inspired in part by the Chinese Huangshan mount= ains (pictured).[115] Zhangjiajie National Forest Park For the film's float= ing "Hallelujah Mountains", the designers drew inspiration from "many diffe= rent types of mountains, but mainly the karst limestone formations in China= ."[116] According to production designer Dylan Cole, the fictional floating= rocks were inspired by Huangshan (also known as Yellow Mountain), Guilin, = Zhangjiajie, among others around the world.[116] Cameron had noted the infl= uence of the Chinese peaks on the design of the floating mountains.[117] To= create the interiors of the human mining colony on Pandora, production des= igners visited the Noble Clyde Boudreaux[118] oil platform in the Gulf of M= exico during June 2007. They photographed, measured and filmed every aspect= of the platform, which was later replicated on-screen with photorealistic = CGI during post-production.
<= table class=3D"html_block block-1" width=3D"100%" border=3D"0" cellpadding= =3D"0" cellspacing=3D"0" role=3D"presentation" style=3D"box-sizing: border-= box; mso-table-lspace: 0; mso-table-rspace: 0;">
The first photo of the film was released on August 14, 2009,[124] and= Empire released exclusive images from the film in its October issue.[125] = Cameron, producer Jon Landau, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weav= er appeared at a panel, moderated by Tom Rothman, at the 2009 San Diego Com= ic-Con on July 23. Twenty-five minutes of footage was screened[126] in Dolb= y 3D.[127] Weaver and Cameron appeared at additional panels to promote the = film, speaking on the 23rd[128] and 24th[129][130] respectively. James Came= ron announced at the Comic-Con Avatar Panel that August 21 will be 'Avatar = Day'. On this day, the trailer was released in all theatrical formats. The = official game trailer and toy line of the film were also unveiled on this d= ay.[131] The 129-second trailer was released online on August 20, 2009.[132= ] The new 210-second trailer was premiered in theaters on October 23, 2009,= then soon after premiered online on Yahoo! on October 29, 2009, to positiv= e reviews.[133][134] An extended version in IMAX 3D received overwhelmingly= positive reviews.[132] The Hollywood Reporter said that audience expectati= ons were colored by "the [same] establishment skepticism that preceded Tita= nic" and suggested the showing reflected the desire for original storytelli= ng.[135] The teaser has been among the most viewed trailers in the history = of film marketing, reaching the first place of all trailers viewed on Apple= .com with 4 million views.[136] On October 30, to celebrate the opening of = the first 3-D cinema in Vietnam, Fox allowed Megastar Cinema to screen excl= usive 16 minutes of Avatar to a number of press.[137] The three-and-a-half-= minute trailer of the film premiered live on November 1, 2009, during a Dal= las Cowboys football game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on the Di= amond Vision screen, one of the world's largest video displays, and to TV a= udiences viewing the game on Fox. It is said to be the largest live motion = picture trailer viewing in history.[138] The Coca-Cola Company collaborated= with Fox to launch a worldwide marketing campaign to promote the film. The= highlight of the campaign was the website AVTR.com. Specially marked bottl= es and cans of Coca-Cola Zero, when held in front of a webcam, enabled user= s to interact with the website's 3-D features using augmented reality (AR) = technology.[139] The film was heavily promoted in an episode of the Fox ser= ies Bones in the episode "The Gamer In The Grease" (Season 5, Episode 9). A= vatar star Joel David Moore has a recurring role on the program, and is see= n in the episode anxiously awaiting the release of the film.[140] A week pr= ior to the American release, Zoe Saldana promoted the film on Adult Swim wh= en she was interviewed by an animated Space Ghost.[141] McDonald's had a pr= omotion mentioned in television commercials in Europe called "Avatarize you= rself", which encouraged people to go to the website set up by Oddcast, and= use a photograph of themselves to change into a Na'vi.[142] Books Avatar: = A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora, a 22= 4-page book in the form of a field guide to the film's fictional setting of= the planet of Pandora, was released by Harper Entertainment on November 24= , 2009.[143] It is presented as a compilation of data collected by the huma= ns about Pandora and the life on it, written by Maria Wilhelm and Dirk Math= ison. HarperFestival also released Wilhelm's 48-page James Cameron's Avatar= : The Reusable Scrapbook for children.[144] The Art of Avatar was released = on November 30, 2009, by Abrams Books. The book features detailed productio= n artwork from the film, including production sketches, illustrations by Li= sa Fitzpatrick, and film stills. Producer Jon Landau wrote the foreword, Ca= meron wrote the epilogue, and director Peter Jackson wrote the preface.[145= ] In October 2010, Abrams Books also released The Making of Avatar, a 272-p= age book that detailed the film's production process and contains over 500 = color photographs and illustrations.[146] In a 2009 interview, Cameron said= that he planned to write a novel version of Avatar after the film was rele= ased.[147] In February 2010, producer Jon Landau stated that Cameron plans = a prequel novel for Avatar that will "lead up to telling the story of the m= ovie, but it would go into much more depth about all the stories that we di= dn't have time to deal with", saying that "Jim wants to write a novel that = is a big, epic story that fills in a lot of things".[148] In August 2013 it= was announced that Cameron hired Steven Gould to pen four standalone novel= s to expand the Avatar universe.[149] ance Post released a special limited = edition stamp based on Avatar, coinciding with the film's worldwide release= .
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Initial screening Avatar premiered in London o= n December 10, 2009, and was released theatrically worldwide from December = 16 to 18.[156] The film was originally set for release on May 22, 2009, dur= ing filming[157] but was pushed back to allow more post-production time (th= e last shots were delivered in November)[80] and give more time for theater= s worldwide to install 3D projectors.[158] Cameron stated that the film's a= spect ratio would be 1.78:1 for 3D screenings and that a 2.39:1 image would= be extracted for 2D screenings.[159][160] However, a 3D 2.39:1 extract was= approved for use with constant-image-height screens (i.e., screens that in= crease in width to display 2.39:1 films).[161] During a 3D preview showing = in Germany on December 16, the movie's DRM "protection" system malfunctione= d, and some copies delivered weren=E2=80=99t watched at all in the theaters= . The problems were fixed in time for the public premiere.[162] Avatar was = released in a total of 3,457 theaters in the US, of which 2,032 theaters sh= owed it in 3D. In total, 90% of all advance ticket sales for Avatar were fo= r 3D screenings.[163] Internationally, Avatar opened on a total of 14,604 s= creens in 106 territories, of which 3,671 were showing the film in 3D (prod= ucing 56% of the first weekend gross).[164][165] The film was simultaneousl= y presented in IMAX 3D format, opening in 178 theaters in the United States= on December 18. The international IMAX release included 58 theaters beginn= ing on December 16, and 25 more theaters were to be added in the coming wee= ks.[166] The IMAX release was the company's widest to date, a total of 261 = theaters worldwide. The previous IMAX record opening was Harry Potter and t= he Half-Blood Prince, which opened in 161 IMAX theaters in the US, and abou= t 70 international.[167] 20th Century Fox Korea adapted and later released = Avatar in 4D version, which included "moving seats, smells of explosives, s= prinkling water, laser lights and wind".[20] Post-original release In July = 2010, Cameron confirmed that there would be an extended theatrical rereleas= e of the film on August 27, 2010, exclusively in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D.[1= 68] Avatar: Special Edition includes an additional nine minutes of footage,= all of which is CG,[169] including an extension of the sex scene[170] and = various other scenes that were cut from the original theatrical film.[169] = This extended re-release resulted in the film's run time approaching the th= en-current IMAX platter maximum of 170 minutes, thereby leaving less time f= or the end credits. Cameron stated that the nine minutes of added scenes co= st more than $1 million a minute to produce and finish.[171] During its 12-= week re-release, Avatar: Special Edition grossed an additional $10.74 milli= on in North America and $22.46 million overseas for a worldwide total of $3= 3.2 million.[5] The film was later re-released in China in March 2021, allo= wing it to surpass Avengers: Endgame to become the highest-grossing film of= all time.[24] Avatar was re-released in theaters on September 23, 2022, by= Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures for a limited two week engagement, wit= h the film being remastered in 4K high-dynamic range, with select scenes at= a high frame rate of 48-frames-per-second.[172] The reissue was prior to t= he December 2022 premiere of its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.[173] Pri= or to this, Cameron previously teased a re-release of the film back in 2017= when promoting the Dolby Cinema re-release of Titanic, stating that there = were plans in the works to remaster the film with Dolby Vision and re-relea= se it in Dolby Cinema.
Home media 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the fi= lm on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on April 22, 2010,[175] and in the UK on Ap= ril 26.[176] The US release was not on a Tuesday as is the norm, but was do= ne to coincide with Earth Day.[177] The first DVD and Blu-ray release does = not contain any supplemental features other than the theatrical film and th= e disc menu in favor of and to make space for optimal picture and sound. Th= e release also preserves the film's native 1.78:1 (16:9) format as Cameron = felt that was the best format to watch the film.[178] The Blu-ray disc cont= ains DRM (BD+ 5) which some Blu-ray players might not support without a fir= mware update.[179][180] Avatar set a first-day launch record in the U.S. fo= r Blu-ray sales at 1.5 million units sold, breaking the record previously h= eld by The Dark Knight (600,000 units sold). First-day DVD and Blu-ray sale= s combined were over four million units sold.[181] In its first four days o= f release, sales of Avatar on Blu-ray reached 2.7 million in the United Sta= tes and Canada =E2=80=93 overtaking The Dark Knight to become the best ever= selling Blu-ray release in the region.[182][183] The release later broke t= he Blu-ray sales record in the UK the following week.[184] In its first thr= ee weeks of release, the film sold a total of 19.7 million DVD and Blu-ray = discs combined, a new record for sales in that period.[185] As of July 18, = 2012, DVD sales (not including Blu-ray) totaled over 10.5 million units sol= d with $190,806,055 in revenue.[186] Avatar retained its record as the top-= selling Blu-ray in the US market until January 2015, when it was surpassed = by Disney's Frozen.[187] The Avatar three-disc Extended Collector's Edition= on DVD and Blu-ray was released on November 16, 2010. Three different vers= ions of the film are present on the discs: the original theatrical cut (162= minutes), the special edition cut (170 minutes), and a collector's extende= d cut (178 minutes). The DVD set spreads the film across two discs, while t= he Blu-ray set presents it on a single disc.[188] The collector's extended = cut contains 8 more minutes of footage, thus making it 16 minutes longer th= an the original theatrical cut. Cameron mentioned, "you can sit down, and i= n a continuous screening of the film, watch it with the Earth opening". He = stated the "Earth opening" is an additional 4+1=E2=81=842 minutes of scenes= that were in the film for much of its production but were ultimately cut b= efore the film's theatrical release.[189] The release also includes an addi= tional 45 minutes of deleted scenes and other extras.[188] Cameron initiall= y stated that Avatar would be released in 3D around November 2010, but the = studio issued a correction: "3-D is in the conceptual stage and Avatar will= not be out on 3D Blu-ray in November."[190] In May 2010, Fox stated that t= he 3D version would be released some time in 2011.[185] It was later reveal= ed that Fox had given Panasonic an exclusive license for the 3D Blu-ray ver= sion and only with the purchase of a Panasonic 3DTV. The length of Panasoni= c's exclusivity period is stated to last until February 2012.[191] On Octob= er 2010, Cameron stated that the standalone 3D Blu-ray would be the final v= ersion of the film's home release and that it was "maybe one, two years out= ".[192] On Christmas Eve 2010, Avatar had its 3D television world premiere = on Sky.[193][194][195] On August 13, 2012, Cameron announced on Facebook th= at Avatar would be released globally on Blu-ray 3D.[196] The Blu-ray 3D ver= sion was finally released on October 16, 2012.[197] Reception Critical resp= onse On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 319 reviews are positive,= and the average rating is 7.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "It might be= more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but = Avatar reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing f= ilmmaking."[198] On Metacritic =E2=80=94 which assigns a weighted mean scor= e =E2=80=94 the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indi= cating "universal acclaim".[199] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the f= ilm an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Every demographic surveyed= was reported to give this rating. These polls also indicated that the main= draw of the film was its use of 3D.[200] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Ti= mes called the film "extraordinary" and gave it four stars out of four. "Wa= tching Avatar, I felt sort of the same as when I saw Star Wars in 1977," he= said, adding that like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship= of the Ring, the film "employs a new generation of special effects" and it= "is not simply a sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a te= chnical breakthrough. It has a flat-out Green and anti-war message".[201] A= . O. Scott of At The Movies also compared his viewing of the film to the fi= rst time he viewed Star Wars and he said "although the script is a little b= it ... obvious," it was "part of what made it work".[202][203] Todd McCarth= y of Variety praised the film, saying "The King of the World sets his sight= s on creating another world entirely in Avatar, and it's very much a place = worth visiting."[204] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter gave the fil= m a positive review. "The screen is alive with more action and the soundtra= ck pops with more robust music than any dozen sci-fi shoot-'em-ups you care= to mention," he stated.[205] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone awarded Avatar= a three-and-a-half out of four star rating and wrote in his print review "= It extends the possibilities of what movies can do. Cameron's talent may ju= st be as big as his dreams."[206] Richard Corliss of Time magazine thought = that the film was "the most vivid and convincing creation of a fantasy worl= d ever seen in the history of moving pictures."[207] Kenneth Turan of the L= os Angeles Times thought the film has "powerful" visual accomplishments but= "flat dialogue" and "obvious characterization".[208] James Berardinelli of= ReelViews praised the film and its story, giving it four out of four stars= ; he wrote "In 3-D, it's immersive =E2=80=93 but the traditional film eleme= nts =E2=80=93 story, character, editing, theme, emotional resonance, etc. = =E2=80=93 are presented with sufficient expertise to make even the 2-D vers= ion an engrossing 2+1=E2=81=842-hour experience."[209] Avatar's underlying = social and political themes attracted attention. Armond White of the New Yo= rk Press wrote that Cameron used "villainous American characters" to "misre= present facets of militarism, capitalism, and imperialism".[210][211] Russe= ll D. Moore of The Christian Post concluded that "propaganda exists in the = film" and stated "If you can get a theater full of people in Kentucky to st= and and applaud the defeat of their country in war, then you've got some am= azing special effects."[212] Adam Cohen of The New York Times was more posi= tive about the film, calling its anti-imperialist message "a 22nd-century v= ersion of the American colonists vs. the British, India vs. the Raj, or Lat= in America vs. United Fruit".[213] Ross Douthat of The New York Times opine= d that the film is "Cameron's long apologia for pantheism [...] Hollywood's= religion of choice for a generation now",[214] while Saritha Prabhu of The= Tennessean called the film a "misportrayal of pantheism and Eastern spirit= uality in general",[215] and Maxim Osipov of The Hindustan Times, on the co= ntrary, commended the film's message for its overall consistency with the t= eachings of Hinduism in the Bhagavad Gita.[216] Annalee Newitz of io9 concl= uded that Avatar is another film that has the recurring "fantasy about race= " whereby "some white guy" becomes the "most awesome" member of a non-white= culture.[217] Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called Avatar "the s= eason's ideological Rorschach blot",[218] while Miranda Devine of The Sydne= y Morning Herald thought that "It [was] impossible to watch Avatar without = being banged over the head with the director's ideological hammer."[219] Ni= desh Lawtoo believed that an essential, yet less visible social theme that = contributed to Avatar's success concerns contemporary fascinations with vir= tual avatars and "the transition from the world of reality to that of virtu= al reality".[220] Critics and audiences have cited similarities with other = films, literature or media, describing the perceived connections in ways ra= nging from simple "borrowing" to outright plagiarism. Ty Burr of The Boston= Globe called it "the same movie" as Dances with Wolves.[221] Like Dances w= ith Wolves, Avatar has been characterized as being a "white savior" movie, = in which a "backwards" native people is impotent without the leadership of = a member of the invading white culture.[222][223] Parallels to the concept = and use of an avatar are in Poul Anderson's 1957 novelette "Call Me Joe", i= n which a paralyzed man uses his mind from orbit to control an artificial b= ody on Jupiter.[224][225] Cinema audiences in Russia have noted that Avatar= has elements in common with the 1960s Noon Universe novels by Arkady and B= oris Strugatsky, which are set in the 22nd century on a forested world call= ed Pandora with a sentient indigenous species called the Nave.[226] Various= reviews have compared Avatar to the films FernGully: The Last Rainforest,[= 227][228] Pocahontas[229] and The Last Samurai.[230] NPR's Morning Edition = has compared the film to a montage of tropes, with one commentator stating = that Avatar was made by "mixing a bunch of film scripts in a blender".[231]= Gary Westfahl wrote that "the science fiction story that most closely rese= mbles Avatar has to be Ursula Le Guin's novella The Word for World Is Fores= t (1972), another epic about a benevolent race of alien beings who happily = inhabit dense forests while living in harmony with nature until they are at= tacked and slaughtered by invading human soldiers who believe that the only= good gook is a dead gook".[225] The science fiction writer and editor Gard= ner Dozois said that along with the Anderson and Le Guin stories, the "mash= -up" included Alan Dean Foster's 1975 novel, Midworld.[232] Some sources sa= w similarities to the artwork of Roger Dean, which features fantastic image= s of dragons and floating rock formations.[233][234] In 2013, Dean sued Cam= eron and Fox, claiming that Pandora was inspired by 14 of his images. Dean = sought damages of $50m.[235] Dean's case was dismissed in 2014, and The Hol= lywood Reporter noted that Cameron had won multiple Avatar idea theft cases= .[236] Avatar received compliments from filmmakers, with Steven Spielberg p= raising it as "the most evocative and amazing science-fiction movie since S= tar Wars" and others calling it "audacious and awe inspiring", "master clas= s", and "brilliant". Noted art director-turned-filmmaker Roger Christian is= also a noted fan of the film.[237] On the other hand, Duncan Jones said: "= It's not in my top three James Cameron films. ... [A]t what point in the fi= lm did you have any doubt what was going to happen next?".[238] For French = filmmaker Luc Besson, Avatar opened the doors for him to now create an adap= tation of the graphic novel series Val=C3=A9rian and Laureline that technol= ogically supports the scope of its source material, with Besson even throwi= ng his original script in the trash and redoing it after seeing the film.[2= 39] TIME ranked Avatar number 3 in their list of "The 10 Greatest Movies of= the Millennium (Thus Far)"[240] also earning it a spot on the magazine's A= ll-Time 100 list,[241] and IGN listed Avatar as number 22 on their list of = the top 25 Sci-Fi movies of all time.

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After the film's release and unusually strong box office perfo= rmance over its first two weeks, it was debated as the one film capable of = surpassing Titanic's worldwide gross, and its continued strength perplexed = box office analysts.[294] Other films in recent years had been cited as con= tenders for surpassing Titanic, such as 2008's The Dark Knight,[295] but Av= atar was considered the first film with a genuine chance to do so, and its = numbers being aided by higher ticket prices for 3D screenings[294] did not = fully explain its success to box office analysts. "Most films are considere= d to be healthy if they manage anything less than a 50% drop from their fir= st weekend to their second. Dipping just 11% from the first to the third is= unheard of," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office analysis for= Hollywood.com. "This is just unprecedented. I had to do a double take. I t= hought it was a miscalculation."[296] Analysts predicted second place for t= he film's worldwide gross, but most were uncertain about it surpassing Tita= nic because "Today's films flame out much faster than they did when Titanic= was released."[296] Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, believed i= n the film's chances of becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, tho= ugh he also believed it was too early to surmise because it had only played= during the holidays. He said, "While Avatar may beat Titanic's record, it = will be tough, and the film is unlikely to surpass Titanic in attendance. T= icket prices were about $3 cheaper in the late 1990s."[296] Cameron said he= did not think it was realistic to "try to topple Titanic off its perch" be= cause it "just struck some kind of chord" and there had been other good fil= ms in recent years.[297] He changed his prediction by mid-January. "It's go= nna happen. It's just a matter of time," he said.[298] You've got to compet= e head on with these other epic works of fantasy and fiction, the Tolkiens = and the Star Wars and the Star Treks. People want a persistent alternate re= ality to invest themselves in and they want the detail that makes it rich a= nd worth their time. They want to live somewhere else. Like Pandora. James = Cameron on the success of Avatar[299] Although analysts have been unable to= agree that Avatar's success is attributable to one primary factor, several= explanations have been advanced. First, January is historically "the dumpi= ng ground for the year's weakest films", and this also applied to 2010.[300= ] Cameron himself said he decided to open the film in December so that it w= ould have less competition from then to January.[287] Titanic capitalized o= n the same January predictability, and earned most of its gross in 1998.[30= 0] Additionally, Avatar established itself as a "must-see" event. Gray said= , "At this point, people who are going to see Avatar are going to see Avata= r and would even if the slate was strong."[300] Marketing the film as a "no= velty factor" also helped. Fox positioned the film as a cinematic event tha= t should be seen in the theaters. "It's really hard to sell the idea that y= ou can have the same experience at home," stated David Mumpower, an analyst= at BoxOfficeProphets.com.[300] The "Oscar buzz" surrounding the film and i= nternational viewings helped. "Two-thirds of Titanic's haul was earned over= seas, and Avatar [tracked] similarly ...Avatar opened in 106 markets global= ly and was No. 1 in all of them", and the markets "such as Russia, where Ti= tanic saw modest receipts in 1997 and 1998, are white-hot today" with "more= screens and moviegoers" than before.[300] According to Variety, films in 3= D accumulated $1.3 billion in 2009, "a threefold increase over 2008 and mor= e than 10% of the total 2009 box-office gross". The increased ticket price = =E2=80=93 an average of $2 to $3 per ticket in most markets =E2=80=93 helpe= d the film.[300] Likewise, Entertainment Weekly attributed the film's succe= ss to 3D glasses but also to its "astronomic word-of-mouth". Not only do so= me theaters charge up to $18.50 for IMAX tickets, but "the buzz" created by= the new technology was the possible cause for sold-out screenings.[301] Gr= ay said Avatar having no basis in previously established material makes its= performance remarkable and even more impressive. "The movie might be deriv= ative of many movies in its story and themes," he said, "but it had no dire= ct antecedent like the other top-grossing films: Titanic (historical events= ), the Star Wars movies (an established film franchise), or The Lord of the= Rings (literature). It was a tougher sell ..."[300] The Hollywood Reporter= estimated that after a combined production and promotion cost of between $= 387=E2=80=93437 million, the film turned a net profit of $1.2 billion.
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