Up here in (the state of) Washington, "Avatar's" not in as many theatres as you'd think. That stupid-ass "Twilight" nonsense occupied more theatre space than "Avatar" did.

Still, can't wait to support this grass-roots Indy film. If memory serves me right, Scott, you were the one who was fertilizing those roots months back? You must feel so proud with "Avatar" starting to get some buzz. Heck, wasn't a couple of their stars even doing the late-night talk show circuit? Who saw that coming?
I find it's movies like "Avatar" that really brings the Indy community together. It's a beautiful thing; kinda like Roseanne Barr singing the national anthem. O, to munch granola and sing "Kumbaya" with the fellers again. Rest easy, I'll be munching tonight, fellers. I'll be munching with your tonight.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

$27M on a Friday with the word of mouth may get them a nice boost even with the weather on Saturday and Sunday.
I actually saw closer to $100M. If it gets the $35+ today...

I'll probably go see it next week as winter and me don't mix. I'll probably make it my first IMAX movie. And my first 3D. The technology looks ready.

I think with the love story angle he actually has a shot at Titanic numbers. I heard the song "I See You" last night and it'll definitely help.

It's easy to take something as enormous as AVATAR and become cynical about it... er, at least it's easy for me. But the fact is, here at GITS, we should be celebrating everything about this film.

It's a MAJOR MAJOR (er, probably add a few more MAJORs, if you like) film that does NOT come from a toy, a comic book, a blockbuster novel. It's not a sequel, it's not a remake. It's an ORIGINAL film wrought from the mind of it's director. It's detractors are dealing the "Dances With Wolves derivative" card... a minor and somewhat empty complaint, if you ask me.

Not that I think this will open any doors or change things too much... (except on the technical/FX side).

Still, after suffering the horrors of Transformers 2 last summer, Avatar does bring with it a slight glimmer of hope.

@Jeff: I agree. Having read the scriptment (and to see the movie tomorrow night when my oldest son finally gets home through the blizzard slamming the mid-Atlantic), the movie has a solid story. Not earth-shatteringly different, but for this type of movie, so laden with special effects, I don't think it requires a startling story. The Protagonist Jake, by immersing himself in the lives of Na'vi, is an effective way to carry us - the viewer - into that subculture as we're both FOOW (Fish-Out-Of-Water). It's a simple story and I mean that in a good way as it delineates sides clearly, not cluttering up our minds to allow us to experience the wonder of this new (at least to us) world Pandora.

FINALLY got around to watching this. Worth the half hour for someone interested in the technical. Like me :)