Despite “Avatar,” losing top Oscar honors to war-themed “The Hurt Locker” a week ago, the masses continue to vote for special effects and escapism over reality-based war movies.
Tim Burton’s IMAX 3-D film “Alice in Wonderland” led the American box office for the second week in a row according to trade paper Variety. The blockbuster took in another $60 million at the box office, easily holding off a challenge from Iraq-war-themed “Green Zone.”
Like many Iraq and Afghanistan war films that have come out over the last few years, “Green Zone” starring Matt Damon, and directed by “Bourne” series mastermind Paul Greengrass, failed to appeal to a wide audience. It netted less than $15 million in its opening weekend despite a well-promoted wide release.
Last week’s Oscar success for the “The Hurt Locker” suggested a potential breakthrough in movie-goer tastes for war films based on the current Middle-East situation. Instead, the four to one preference for “Alice” over “Green Zone” by the masses illustrated that the Oscar panelists’ tastes in movies are far from those of the average movie-goer.
Touching on that disconnect, “Avatar” producer Jon Landau said yesterday at a press event in Israel that he and director James Cameron were considering a sequel to “Avatar.” When asked if he was disappointed in losing Best Picture to “The Hurt Locker,” he said, “We made ‘Avatar’ to communicate to the masses, not to please 6,000 Academy members.”
Two other new films breaking into the top spots, but failing to gross over $10 million were comedy “She’s Out of My League” and “Remember Me” starring Robert Pattinson of “Twilight” fame.
