Avatar Vs. Titanic

So at this point, with the two highest grossing movies of all time in his name, we've pretty much established that James Cameron knows how to make a good movie. This got me thinking, what seems to be the formula for these highly successful movies, if there even is one? What follows is a listing of the similarities between Avatar and Titanic. I have also included other various statistics and information about the two movies in the following list of similarities. Is there a formula in there? The only one who knows that would be James Cameron.

1. The Studio: Both Titanic and Avatar were distributed/financed by 20^th Century Fox and they involved Lightstorm Entertainment. Interestingly enough, Paramount Pictures also helped finance the Titanic but wasn't involved with Avatar, while with Avatar there were multiple studios (Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners). What's the message here? It could be that Lightstorm entertainment and 20^th Century Fox know how to pick a good movie.

2. The Release Date: The release date of Titanic was December 19, 1997 and Avatar was released on December 10, 2009. This is a time when generally all the so-so movies come out that aren't expected to do well. What this means is that Titanic and Avatar didn't have a lot of competition so in this period of time it's a lot easier to stay in first place at the box office for prolonged periods of time.

3. The Length: Both movies are exceptionally long with Titanic at 194 minutes and Avatar at 162 minutes. It's surprisingly to see these three hour movies do so well but perhaps the reason is that all of the added content in the movies is what makes them that much more engaging. To tell the truth, I barely felt the seat underneath me when I watched Avatar.

4. The Budget: Being long epic movies, there were epic budgets included. For Titanic it was $200 million and for Avatar it was $237 million and adjusting for inflation they would most likely be about the same. It would have been courageous to stay on with all of these mounting costs but Fox did it and they were definitely rewarded.

5. The Reviews: Rotten Tomatoes has Titanic with an 82% approval rating and Avatar with 82% too. Metacritic gave Titanic a score of 74 and Avatar a score of 84. So the movies are not perfect and aren't even close to perfection among critics but they are reviewed reasonably highly. Both movies appealed to both audiences and critics, which is why Titanic garnered 11 Academy Awards and Avatar is expected to do well at the Oscars.

6. The Production: Avatar and Titanic were both forecasted as future disappointments at the box office. Production was pushed backed constantly for both movies due to lack of technology and other costs. Originally Titanic was supposed to come out in the summer but had to be pushed back to the winter causing speculation that it would go down in flames. Even more so, critics of the movies predicted that both would not do well at the box office. Similarly for Avatar, Fox was worried about the costs and delays and put Cameron under pressure. Fortunately Ingenious Film Partners helped to pick up part of the cost and along with Cameron cutting costs, Fox stayed on which allowed for another amazing movie to come out. Is this some kind of forecast, that a movie will be successful if there are numerous post-production delays and technology costs?

7. The Music: James Horner scored Avatar and Titanic. While there is a similar sound to both movies it is nevertheless engaging and I loved every single piece. Music is a huge part of a movie and in these movies the music makes the movie even better.

8. The Theme: James Cameron has found success with forbidden love. In Titanic it is a couple from two different social classes on a doomed ship. In Avatar it is a couple from two different races on a doomed world. Obviously audiences love this theme but the best part is that in both Titanic and Avatar the relationship is not necessarily the main story line.

James Cameron really is "king of the world" these days, with two of the most successful movies in the world. There are a lot of similarities between Avatar and Titanic but a lot of their success has depended on Cameron's unending, meticulous work on his projects. There is a definite pattern in these prosperous movies but I think the missing factor in the movies aspiring to be the next Avatar and Titanic is James Cameron.

Here are the two main sources of my work:
Dominic Patten, "www.thewrap.com/article/true-cost-and-consequences-avatar-11206." The Wrap
www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,290182,00.html. Entertainment Weekly