AVATAR_who cares?

So let’s see a raise of hands of those looking forward to Avatar.  Hmm.  That’s what I thought.  Is it just me or is nobody, and I mean nobody, fan-boy or Average Joe, nobody is waiting in anxious anticipation for this movie’s December 18^th release.  If you couldn’t guess, I’m one of those who finds themselves not particularly caring.   So what gives?!  This is James Cameron we’re talking about.  The man is a filmmaking legend.  The man that brought us Abyss, T2, and Titanic is finally bringing us, yawn, his long awaited decade-in-the-making sci-fi epic.  Sigh.  I’m bored just writing about it.

Who cares?

I’m quite shocked at how little fanfare there is surrounding this movie at the moment.  Sure, we’re still two months out and, without a doubt, 20^th Century Fox is patiently biding its time before unleashing their onslaught of media marketing.  But still.  You would think, at least within my shallow pool of nerd friends, one of us would be toting the I-Love-James-Cameron Flag for all to see.  Instead, they could care less. Instead, we’re wondering if anything else is on its way to theaters (answer: Sherlock Holmes.)  This just blows my mind.

Okay, the mecha suits are pretty cool.

It really seems like something isn’t right about this film.   I almost think this film, despite being a James Cameron space-opera, is set to tank.  First off: the December release.  You’d expect this to be a summer tent-pole but it’s not.  Then there’s the PG rating… I mean, seriously?  James Cameron, PG?  Then I stumble across the excessive toy line for the film (which you can pre-order here!) Action figures?  Really?  We are talking about James Cameron here, right?  I’m not confusing him with George Lucas or something?  And to make it worse, the studio knows this is not a pre-existing property, right?  This is not Harry Potter.  This is not Batman.   Do the studios really think kids are going to want this crap?  For Christmas no less (another reason the release date is puzzling)?!  I don’t know if the studio knows this, but the kids today, they weren’t alive the last time Cameron made a film.  They don’t know, nor care, who James Cameron is.  So, okay, it’s actually the parents that influence these purchases.  They will be the ones taking their kids to the movie and they will be the ones buying their kids the toys.  That’s not a bad plan, but I can’t help but refer you to the beginning of this post where I said I know of no one who is really looking forward to this movie.  Hmph.  This might have disaster written all over it…

Yep. Exactly.

Thoughts?