AVATAR Will Hit Profit And $500 Million Talk Is ‘Ridiculous’, Says Fox Chairman

Ever since AVATAR project started, the story surrounding was is not only about what James Cameron had in store for us but also how expensive exactly the budget really is and for the past year we’ve been hearing different versions from $200 Million to $300 Million and of course, the recent shocker, $500 Million which takes into calculation the cost for marketing. So the big question is will James Cameron‘s 3-D epic be able to break even, let alone hit profit. Reuters had a chat with Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Jim Gianopulos, who chairs Fox’s movie and television production together with Tom Rothman and he said that the talk of $500 Million is simply “ridiculous”…

“That’s a ridiculous number,”
“It has actually no relationship to the actual cost of the movie.”
“People keep repeating a number, which was as if you added the cost of building the studio 80 years ago to the cost of Avatar.”

“The movie was quite expensive, there is no question about that. But viewed now, from the perspective of its completion and having seen it, it’s a formidable work and money well spent,”

Let’s hope he’s right because many are riding on AVATAR, a lot is at stake including the future of 3D movies and Cameron’s reputation. When asked if he thinks AVATAR would hit profit, Gianopulos, who’s currently visiting Greece said…

“I have no doubt about that.”

Alex Billington of Firstshowing thinks that Gianopulos is probably speaking in terms of worldwide box office, not just domestic results. And Devindra Hardawar of SlashFilm thinks he’s just saying this to distract people from worrying about the cost of the movie.
What do you think?
AVATAR will play on over 8,000 3D screens worldwide and more than double that number in 2D.
AVATAR opens in U.S. theaters, December 18th, 2009