• Basically, if you survived the first film, you get to be in the second film, at least in some form.
• James Cameron • Discussing the back-to-back “Avatar” sequels he’s currently writing. Question: What does he mean by “…at least in some form?” Flashbacks? Ghosts? Long-lost twins? Regardless, the two films are set to be released in 2014 and 2015, respectively, but that’s obviously subject to change. source

• 6.8 miles underwater: location of “Avatar” sequel’s set source

• YES Larry Flynt, porn’s James Cameron, is making it source

• Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. Don’t put limitations on yourself. Other people will do that for you … failure has to be an option in art and exploration because it’s a leap of faith. In whatever you’re doing, failure is an option, but fear is not.
• “Avatar” director James Cameron • Giving a pretty awesome speech at the TED2010 conference today. TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, has regular speeches like this. In Cameron’s, he talked about how his desire to explore led him to ideas like “Avatar” and “Titanic.” Part of his exploratory nature has been nurtured by his deep-sea diving. He’s spent 3,000 hours underwater over the last 40 years (and 500 inside of a submarine), which is kind of a lot. A very inspirational speech for sure. source

• $595
  million “Avatar’s” box-office take in the U.S. after a 7th weekend at the top; it needs $6 million to top “Titanic”
• $2
  billion the James Cameron flick’s worldwide box office take, which is well into the record books already source

• 3D is going to be the future. The one thing ‘Avatar’ could do because of its success – especially its critical success – is give permission to other filmmakers to think of 3D.
• “Avatar” director James Cameron • Regarding his wins at the Golden Globes last night – including best director and best film drama. The awards show favored crowd pleasers over arthouse flicks – “The Hangover” won best film comedy, and Sandra Bullock’s popular role in “The Blind Side” won best film actress in a drama. But really, Haiti was on the minds of the stars at the awards gala, with many wearing ribbons and giving words of support to the devastated country. source

• “Titanic was a ship. Avatar’s a rocket ship.” That’s how Chris Aronson, Fox’s senior vice-president of domestic distribution, put the success of “Avatar,” which is showing few signs of slowing down weeks after its release. It’s quite possible it could pass Titanic’s $601 million total by the beginning of February. Here are some numbers on the horse race with history:

Worldwide totals so far

• $1.6
  billion already, after just five weeks of release – holy freaking crap!
• $237
  million needed to topple “Titanic” and its $1.8 billion worldwide total

North American stats

• $41.3 million the film’s weekend box office after five weeks of release
• $491.8 million the film’s total box office – it should top $500 million Monday
• 32
  days time it will take “Avatar” to reach that total – it took “Titanic” 98 source

• $48M the size of “Avatar’s” fourth-weekend box office take, making it the first four-week movie champ since “The Dark Knight”
• $429M the movie’s total domestic box-office take, which is within shouting distance of the $533 million take of “The Dark Knight”
• $1.3B the movie’s world box-office take, which is just $500 million shy of “Titanic’s” $1.8 billion haul; this is gonna be huge source

• Avatar is looking good in its third weekend, dipping just 9% from last week. Not bad for a movie that had a relatively modest launch for a blockbuster. The secret to its success? The same as “Titanic” – staying power. But even if James Cameron’s latest can’t keep up, his trump card might be an even bigger deal.

• Titanic’s track record:
  

• $1.8 billion total lifetime run – in 1998 money (holy crap)

• $200 million budget for what was expected to be a huge bomb
• $600 million in domestic grosses – in 1998 money! Holy crap!

• $28.6M Titanic’s first-weekend box office take – decent, not spectacular
• $35.5M Titanic’s second-weekend take – it went up by an astonishing 23.8%
• $36M Titanic’s biggest week, which didn’t come until week six, by the way source

• How Avatar’s catching up:
  

• $1 billion worldwide already – in just three weeks!

• $280 million the most likely budget for “Avatar”; totals have varied as widely as $250 million and $500 million
• $150 million has been spent on marketing the movie alone, which Fox is taking on the cost of

• $77M Avatar’s first-weekend box office take; it was hurt by snow
• $75M Avatar’s second-weekend take – down only 1.8%
• $352M Avatar’s domestic gross after a $68 million third weekend source

• The 3D wildcard:
  

• $3-5 the markup the 3D adds to ticket prices source

• Big investment Cameron’s film took years to build because of the fact that the technology had to come first, both for filming and in the theater. Cameron paid to build the technology himself along with a bunch of investors.
• Residual effect Fortunately for Cameron, he can sell the cameras to other filmmakers. “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” has already used it. Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s “The Adventures of Tintin” soon will.
• Cash for conversions Even better for studios, the technology is relatively easy to build into older films. For $30 million, a popular hit like, say, “Titanic,” can have a brand new life in 3D. It’s like a money machine for Hollywood. source

• Will it beat “Titanic”?
  

• Before inflation, probably. After, it depends. It’s probably not likely that the movie will hold up sixteen straight weeks at No. 1 like Titanic, but it’ll have a good shot of holding on tight thanks to the fact that it’s going to be in IMAX (where it’s made $66 million already) for months. But at the very least, it’s looking like it has more staying power than “The Dark Knight,” the biggest hit of the naughts. Well, before “Avatar.”