Avatar Tops Titanic?

James Cameron's Avatar reached 601.1 million on Tuesday, officially breaking the 600.8 million record held by Titanic in the US.

The quality of the movie itself is definitely one of the reasons leading to the huge success.
Undoubtedly, the Oscar-nominated sci-fi has one of the best computer-generated-imagery that is far beyond other sci-fi movies' reach. Though all the scenes are created by computer, Pandora is simply exquisite and breath-taking. The story line is simple yet moving. The whole movie is basically about protecting and fighting for nature. It shows how selfish and arrogant the so-called civilized human can be, in contrast to the Na'vi people's(a tribe indigenous to Pandora) attitude of truly appreciating and respecting nature. The main characters' determination to stay and fight with the Na'vi people is touching and admirable, while the war scenes in the later part of the movie are extremely exciting. With all the above elements combined, Avatar is truly one of the most remarkable films of the decade.

The public's anticipation of the film is perhaps another factor contributing to the high revenue. Since Cameron's last big project Titanic became such a huge blockbuster and left its mark on movie history, people are naturally having very high expectations of Avatar. Therefore, a lot of people rushed to see the movie once it came out. With the tickets costing double the price of regular tickets, the sales revenue is pushed even higher.

As the sales revenue of Avatar is greatly contributed by the high ticket price, some say that the actual number of tickets sold should be considered instead of the sales revenue to see if Avatar really tops Titanic. However, no matter which film wins in terms of popularity, it does not change the fact that Avatar has already become the highest grossing film on the US domestic box-office chart.