Avatar Case Study 6

6. How have audiences responded and reacted to the film?

• Different demographics have responded differently to Avatar. The film has been most popular with males under 18, however it has been least popular with males over 45. The film is not suitable for some groups of people such as old people or very young children as the 3D effect can be overwhelming to them. As young people are generally more interested in new technology than older people, and men more than women, this explains why the film has been most popular with under 18 males.

• In terms of accolades, Avatar has been nominated for nine Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, and four Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director.

• Avatar has been very successful in the world Box Offices, already grossing over $1.04 billion from a $230 million budget. The film has remained at number 1 on the US Box Office charts since release, and in the UK has only been usurped for one week by the release of Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. (Avatar quickly regained the top spot the following week)

• The movie scored an average IMDb rating of 8.7 and is currently at #31 on IMDb's list of Top 250 Movies of all time, rated by users. Here are some detailed rating statistics based on audience demographics. http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/ratings

• Reviews of the film have been decidedly mixed. Many reviewers criticised the storyline, saying it lacked substance and orginality "I've complained that many recent films abandon story telling in their third acts and go for wall-to-wall action. Cameron essentially does that here..." however almost all praised the film as a revolutionary step in 3D technology. "Avatar" is not simply a [piece of] sensational entertainment, although it is that. It's a technical breakthrough" - RogerEbert.com
  

• Many cinema-goers, when asked what they disliked about Avatar, said they were put off by the price of tickets. When I went to watch Avatar at the Islington Vue, tickets cost almost £10 each (including 3D glasses). For a teenager, this is a lot of money to pay for a film. And seeing as the primary target audience of Avatar is under 18s, this is a problem that was probably the cause of the defeat to the singing Chipmunks in the UK.