As movie news goes, greenlighting sequels to a film that made a bajillion dollars is pretty much a no-brainer. Say what you will about Avatar and James Cameron, but there’s no denying the guy knows how to drag in the moola.
(Will this finally incite George Lucas to make more Star Wars, as last year’s stupid sequel trilogy rumor claimed? Again, probably not. George doesn’t need new movies to make himself further bajillions.)
We all know that Avatar is no Star Wars, even if it is now officially a franchise. And who can tell what the future holds? Cameron might have an Empire Strikes Back in him after all. But in any case, we can expect to hear this refrain for at least a couple more years. Sigh.
I have not met any Avatar-crazed fans like for other franchises. I don’t think we’ll be seeing a “Club Naytiri”(is there some kind of apostrophe?) anytime soon. :)
I think Avatar was more of a “Great movie! What’s next?” thing. Most fans of the movie gushed about the scenery, then went on to talk about Up in the Air or some other movie they saw the same day.
Nothing can really be ‘the new Star Wars’ these days – the cultural landscape is just too different. So the question really becomes, will Avatar and it’s sequels still be heralded in 30 years like the OT, or will it simply be regarded mostly as a technical stepping stone ala Jurassic Park? It’s far too soon to say.
Good point Dunc, it seems like every new action/adventure/sci fi film that comes out these days claims to be the next Star Wars.
Sixty is the new Star Wars!
I don’t want to see any Star Wars movies until George Lucas agrees to turn the directorial roll over to someone else or he dies so that someone can take over. The concept of Star Wars was great, but, let’s be honest here, the best Star Wars films were not directed by George Lucas.
I thought that Avatar was great, but I also thought that The Matrix was amazing too and look what they did to that film with the sequels. Maybe James Cameron should consider letting sleeping sequels lie.