Sorry, Mr. Cameron, Avatar is no Star Wars

In case you missed it, there was this small little movie that came out last year called Avatar.  (Not to be confused with Avatar:  The Last Airbender.)  It really struggled; only pulling in three Academy Awards.  (So sad.)

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, director and creator James Cameron is talking about its impending 3D re-release; including more Pandoric atmosphere and a missing tear-jerker moment.

Apparently, he is hoping this re-release will test out whether or not the Avatar brand can develop into a Star Wars– or Star Trek-type franchise.

Perhaps, being an old fart Star Wars fan, I find this difficult to believe.  But stranger things have happened.  (As in back in 1977.)  And even an attempt at doing more with the Avatar franchise will make at least the Avatarians (Pandorians? Avatar fans?) happy, for now.  So more power to him.

Is Twilight actually Star Wars for girls? Probably not.

Or maybe it will just be the next Titanic, minus the whole boat and plot thing.In this corner of cyberspace, I feel pretty safe in saying that Star Wars is Star Wars for girls. (Well, sometimes.) But the New York Post does have some points – granted, a bit inflated points, but still, points. (Harry Potter fans must be so relieved that the buck has finally passed.) And it’s hard to deny at this point that Twilight isn’t a game-changer, and if Fandango and Nikki Finke are onto something, we might be seeing the requisite record-breaking ticket sales, too. In any case, it’s too soon to say – ruling a box office is one thing, but still being relevant thirty years on? That takes some doing, particularly when your audience is full of fickle teenagers.

Still, for those of us who find the appeal of Twilight puzzling, it’s nice to know that there are some parents out there at least a little wary of letting their daughters see a movie where a girl throws herself over a cliff over some guy with glitter issues.

UPDATE: Finke is now saying that New Moon did Dark Knight numbers for the midnight release. This will certainly be interesting…

The catchup: Links from Twitter

Here are some of the things I’ve micro-blogged over @clubjade in the last week or so.

Hollywood hyperbole. Sony’s Amy Pascal thinks that James Cameron’s Avatar could be the next Star Wars. I’m just trying to think of an upcoming genre movie I care less about than Avatar and failing miserably.

Duck and cover, Dallas. Will Texas be able to handle the squee produced by an official Twilight convention? We can only hope the lack of Robert Pattinson gives them a fighting chance.

Space blob approaches! Guys. GUYS. Waru is coming! I repent of all my Twilight mocking. Okay, not really.

But the real question is, who did they ship? Wired’s Scott Brown takes a brief look back at Sherlock Holmes fanfic.

Presented without comment. Guess who wants to write a Wonder Woman novel?