這段日子以來，所有人都在討論一部電影：《阿凡達》。有人為了它一大早4點就去排隊等開門買票，有人跟團出國去看電影。究竟阿凡達有什麼魅力足以吸引這麼多的觀眾，賺那麼多的票房？有關專家分析出了六大理由，其中不乏商業之道、運營策略，也許也會讓你在職場工作中有所啟示。
《阿凡達》戰勝《鐵達尼號》的六大原因
It’s been in theaters for three weekends and director James Cameron’s Avatar is still going like gangbusters. Its billion-dollar (and counting) worldwide gross makes it a shoo-in as the all-time second-highest-grossing film, but can it topple the current No. 1, Cameron’s Titanic? Forecasting is a tricky business, and, as with that last Cameron film, analysts are wary of guessing at Avatar’s future. It won’t eclipse Titanic in raw ticket numbers, but there’s a good chance that if Avatar can sustain its holiday-season momentum, it could be well on its way to the biggest-ever worldwide gross (unadjusted for inflation). Here are six factors that could help push the otherworldly epic into the top spot:
1. The hard part is done。
It took The Dark Knight seven months to gross $1 billion worldwide. It took Titanic nearly three months. Avatar haspocketed the same amount in a cool 17 days. The market pressure to release a film on DVD means movies aren’t in theaters for seven to eight monthsanymore, as Titanic was. In Avatar’s case, it doesn’t need that muchtime: the heavy lifting is done, and after a scorching three-week kickoff, there’s just (just!) over $800 million to go to beat Titanic’s record。
其一，惡戰已過，前途光明。
《黑暗騎士》7個月時間賺了10億，《鐵達尼號》用了3個月的時間，而《阿凡達》僅用了區區17天。因為沒有前者那麼大的碟片發行壓力，加上之前的好成績，《阿凡達》僅需再加8億就能輕鬆擊敗卡梅隆前作。
2. It’s competing against itself。
January is historically the dumping ground for the year’s weakest films, and this year looks to be no different: where December had strong commercial fare like Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Squeakquel and Sherlock Holmes, January will average only three wide releases per weekend and boasts only one ballyhooed release (The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington). Titanic capitalized on the same January doldrums by roaring past the 1997 holidays to earn most of its cash in 1998. Then again, if you’re operating on as much momentum as Avatar is, "competition can be overrated,"says Brandon Gray, president and publisher of BoxOfficeMojo.com. Thefilm has established itself as a must-see, and "at this point, peoplewho are going to see Avatar are going to see Avatar and would even ifthe slate was strong," Gray argues. The biggest threat to Avatar’s leadcould be when it has to cede 3-D screens to the next 3-D blockbuster, March’s Alice in Wonderland。
其二，天下無雙，獨孤求敗。
一月檔的電影往往都比較弱，12月份好歹還有《艾文與花栗鼠續集》跟《福爾摩斯》分一杯羹，到了一月份就沒啥能放在眼裏的對手了。當年《鐵達尼號》差不多也這狀況，但《阿凡達》的優勢更明顯，它不但把自己打造成了一部不容錯過的影片，還將搶佔3D熒幕直至3月份的《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》上映。
3. Marketing the "novelty factor" has succeeded。
The water-cooler wisdom you』ve probably heard about Avatar hits at the core of its marketing success: If you want to see this movie, you must see it in a theater. Fox positioned the film as a cinematic event, enticing audiences typically turned off by fantasy or science-fiction films by emphasizing the spectacle and majesty of it all. Call it Netflix proofing: "It’s really hard to sell the idea that you can have the same experience at home," says David Mumpower, an analyst at BoxOfficeProphets.com. "Avatar faced expectations as unreasonable as there are, and it met them. That made it a near-impossible triumph that people suddenly wanted to see."
其三，新奇賣點，成功推廣。
管你怎麼再冷靜，聽說《阿凡達》在電影院看才有效果的時候，你也會忍不住動心。福克斯將該片打造成一部影院盛宴，用卓越的特效和卡梅隆的口碑誘惑着觀眾進電影院觀看。實際上這年頭電影如果在家看在影院看沒啥大差別的話，那還真賣不出什麼票來。不管這個事實多麼不合理，但《阿凡達》的市場推廣真的做到了讓本來百般無聊的人們有了想進電影院看片的衝動。
4. The Oscars bring the heat。
The buzz around a film historically heats up through the Academy Award count down, and Avatar is a near lock to be nominated. Last year, three of the five best-picture nominees saw their domestic per-theater gross increase the weekend after they were nominated, and Slumdog Millionaire saw its domestic per-theater take jump on the weekend after it won the Oscar. For Avatar, nods from the Academy could lure in skeptical holdouts and repeat viewers。
其四，得獎呼聲，添磚加瓦。
在又一屆奧斯卡來臨之際，《阿凡達》越來越高的得獎呼聲無疑也為其票房錦上添花。想去年獲5部最佳電影提名的作品中有三部在提名公佈後均票房大漲，而《貧民富翁》更是在成為最終大贏家的那個周末均票房滿堂彩。要是《阿凡達》能在本屆奧斯卡上有所作為的話，那麼又將迎來成千上萬的觀眾，再次觀摩該片。
5. There’s a whole world out there。
Two-thirds of Titanic’s haul was earned overseas, and Avatar is tracking similarly (compare that with, say, The Dark Knight, which saw a near-even split between North American tallies and what it earned around the rest ofthe globe). Avatar opened in 106 markets globally and was No. 1 in allof them. Markets such as Russia, where Titanic saw modest receipts in 1997 and 1998, are white-hot today, analysts say, with more screens and moviegoers than ever before. Avatar stands poised to reap the benefits, and it has already dotted the globe with box-office records。
其五，全球策略，遍地開花。
當年《鐵達尼號》就有三分之二的收入來自海外市場，《阿凡達》也同樣如此，它入侵全球106個市場，全都取得了第一名的好成績。像俄羅斯當年《鐵達尼號》的票房平平，但如今《阿凡達》卻火爆到白熱化，一方面也是因為銀幕和放映設施的增加。《阿凡達》生在了一個好時代，足以在全球票房史上名垂青史。
6. Premium ticket prices。
Movies in 3-D took in $1.3 billion in 2009, according to Variety, a threefold increase over 2008 and more than 10 percent of the total 2009box-office gross. The increased ticket price—an average of $2 to $3 perticket in most markets—will undoubtedly help pad Avatar’s coffers。
其六，票價浮動，水漲船高。
搭上3D這茬兒，另外還有IMAX這事兒，票價噌噌地就上去了，《阿凡達》自然因此受益匪淺。
None of the above explanations, however, will diminish Avatar’s accomplishment as a (potential) top grosser. "What makes Avatar remarkable is that it has no basis in previously established material," Gray says. The movie might be derivative of many movies in its story and themes, but it had no direct antecedent like the other top-grossing films: Titanic (historical events)， theStar Wars movies (an established film franchise)， or The Lord of theRings (literature). It was a tougher sell, which makes its achievementmore impressive。
但以上這些原因都不能說明《阿凡達》究竟為何成為如此兇猛的票房殺手，究其根源，還是因為它是一部史無前例的作品。儘管在劇情和主題上會讓人覺得似曾相識，但在任何一部之前的大片上都看不到這樣的先例，無論是歷史事件改編的《鐵達尼號》，還是商業打造的《星球大戰》，或者文學作品改編的《指環王》。《阿凡達》更獨特，更賺錢，這也使得它意義非凡。
