From eonline.com Looks like James Cameron is the King of Middle Earth, too. With $1.14 billion worldwide and counting, Avatar has now overtaken the $1.1 billion raked in by 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the second-highest-grossing film in history.
In fact, Avatar is going so strong that what once seemed an out-of-this-world impossibility now seems within the realm of (virtual) reality. If the 20th Century Fox movie, which screens in both 2-D and 3-D formats, keeps up its current pace, it could catch the $1.8 billion in global ticket sales tallied by the Oscar-winning filmmaker’s own Titanic.
If that wasn’t enough (and it never is in Tinseltown), Fox’s FX cable network has reportedly paid upward of $25 million for the TV rights to Avatar, which will premiere in 2012. And that makes Cameron’s blue folk even more green.
Hollywood is preparing to re-release some past hits, including Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in 3-D following the record-breaking success of Avatar. Studio executives are drawing up schedules of popular films that will be “retro-fitted” with 3-D technology after the science fiction blockbuster, directed by James Cameron, last week became the second highest grossing movie of all time.
A 3-D version of Avatar has driven ticket sales to more than $1.14 billion (£700m) in just three weeks; only Titanic, Cameron’s 1997 epic, has made more money at the box office. Rival studios had been waiting to see if Avatar took the 3-D experience — albeit using special glasses — beyond the popularity of animated tales such Monsters vs Aliens. More..
Justin writes: I was just checking Amazon’s placeholder page for LOTR BR extended editions, and on that page there’s a bit of text that says: PRODUCT ALERT: “The Lord of the Rings (Extended Editions)” is scheduled to be released on Blu-ray in 2011 or 2012. More..
Ringer Spy Bareandir writes: Just thought you (and all the ringer around the globe) wanted to know that The Lord Of The Rings Triology was rated very high on imdb’s top rated movies of the decade. Split first, second and third place is very honorable. Scores are based on user rating. More..
From Kristin at ReelzChannel: ReelzChannel asked its own employees to pick their Top 10 of the Decade. In three lists, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy made the cut (more than any other movie or movie series). Two of the lists TLOTR topped are below. ‘Top 10 Action/Adventure Movies of the Decade’ and ’10 Must-Own DVDs (and Blu-rays) from the Decade’. The final list that the movies appear on will be released on Friday.