‘Avatar Sequel Has ‘big Benefit To Having Compliancy With Chinese Movie Market: Analyst
Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarapetian joined Yahoo Finance Live to explain why the Avatar sequel has been so successful in international markets thanks to its Chinese audience.
Video decoding
DAVE BRIGGS: Nearly two decades in the making, an Avatar sequel is here. The sequel to James Cameron's highest-grossing film is on track to take home $175 million in its opening weekend.
- Do it!
- breathe. same.
Dave Briggs: I'm trying - I'm so happy! Road to Water currently holds an 82% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Let's discuss it with Paul Dergarapetian, Senior Media Analyst for Comscore and our channel Allie. Paul, nice to see you. This movie looks great. I can't pretend to be neutral and happy to see you. have you seen it. What do you think of the first reviews and ratings?
Paul Trkubetsian : Well, I'm going to see it in about an hour, so come back with me in four hours because it's a three hour and 12 minute film. The hype for this movie is heaven. I've talked to people. As if they had agreed on something. When they come out of the movie, they appear to have a high sugar level. And such a long film, one might think, leaves people exhausted. People seem to want to come back and see her again. This is good news.
And as I joked here, he's going to give James Cameron his first $100 million national prize. Believe it or not, this is a big detail. His highest grossing in the country was the first film 'Avatar' which was 77 million. So Dave, he's sure to make a number one record for himself this weekend. Decidedly.
allied channel. And Paul, I want to step in here and get to the point. 77 million in its opening weekend alone, and the film became the highest-grossing film of all time.
Paul Tsarkarpetyan: Exactly.
allied channel. Then tell me how it can burn slower. The appetite is clearly there, but will it be any different than some of the Marvel Avenger movies we've seen?
Paul Derkarpetyan : Well, Ali, you're right, because if you look at Cameron's career, he's a marathon runner. It's not a runner in terms of film production or box office. For example, the Titanic we all know and love came out in mid-December, as did the first Avatar, and that Avatar came out for just $28.6 million. As a result, it has earned more than 600 million in the domestic market. That's 21 times the opening week's significance. It grossed 21 times in North America, but more than 1.8 million worldwide. Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time worldwide with 2.9 billion.
But you are absolutely right. Burning would have been slower. It's a feature film, although I don't think it's going to hurt its potential this weekend because theaters do, they can open every screen or theater on the Intracoastal because there's definitely going to be demand. :, and we already see it in numbers. So I'm really looking forward to seeing it. I know many people. And the film industry needs this film right now. We've had a slow post-summer. "Wakanda Forever" held the top spot for five consecutive weeks. And now we're looking at Avatar, The Path of Water to take on the role.
allied channel. Post and reviews are likely to help with the opening weekend. And tell me a little bit about the Chinese side of it all. China is known for rejecting films. Waterway got that green light. But is there a potential risk, especially with China's policy of not spreading the virus?
Paul Tsarkarubtsian: I think these external forces can work. But I think the most important thing for the film is to bring a film like Avatar to China, and to remember that for the first film, China was the second largest market for the original Avatar film. So it's very important. And IMAX and wide screen 3D play a big part in that. And China is the second largest film market in the world. So Avatar, The Way of Water is definitely a huge blessing in the Chinese mix. When they announced that, it was big news for the film.
And if Cameron is looking for one of the highest-grossing films of all time to add to his already illustrious box office career and greenlight the next three installments, you'll need to take advantage. This is not a cheap film and is a long term commitment. This is the Cameron Legacy project. So the rates couldn't be higher.
DAVE BRIGGS: Yeah, it has to be the highest grossing movie ever, just to make money. Next blockbuster...
Paul Tserkarobetsyan : It should definitely be in the mix.
DAVE BRIGGS: College football could be the next blockbuster movie. Cinemark partners with ESPN to show college football playoffs. How does it work? Could this open the door for more sports in theaters?
Paul Terkarauptsian : Oh, Dave, that's great. Cinemas need content. They need movies, but they also love, especially mid-week and even on weekends, to have so-called good alternative content on their screens. We have seen it at Fathom, Trafalgar and Iconic events. We have seen many such events. Meet Oprah, if you want to watch Oprah, you can go to your movie theater. Want to see Coldplay or BTS, you can see those bands on stage and bands. And that's really cool.
The video game is great. There was a League of Legends event where people could go to the movies to watch and/or play video games. And this is very important for theatres. I think sport is the new frontier of both television and theatre. Live sports can be huge. The possibilities are absolutely incredible.
allied channel. And Paul, as we wrap up 2020, move into 2023, what lessons have we learned? And with those opportunities, sports and possibly more box office broadcast exclusives, where do you think we're going to go?
Paul Terkarauptsian: I think the lesson is that you need a lot of films and you have to show them evenly throughout the release schedule. So, for example, in our comscore data, we showed that we had 38 fewer major movies this year than we did in 2019. That's a lot of movies. That's potentially $1.5 billion in national revenue.
So it looks to be much bigger next year, with Ant-Man debuting in February, followed by John Wick. Got Mission Impossible 7? You have very good films. Indiana Jones 5: I could go on. Lots of great movies, but the lesson is if you build it, it will come. I know it's a cliché, but when movies hit screens in the summer, we saw the box office explode. But there haven't been a lot of movies in the post-summer period, so we've seen a decline in the box office and maybe people are migrating home to watch content on TV.
But if it hits theaters and is as exciting as Avatar, as it always is in Whitney Houston's Puss in Boots, there are some great movies on the horizon and, of course, Babylon. I think these movies will get people into theaters now, in 2023 and beyond.
Dave Briggs: Great. Looking forward to your review! Pavel Dergarapetyan, thank you very much for your channel.
