Thursday 7 January 2010

Distribution

How has the UK theatrical distribution of the film been managed in order to ensure the film's success in the UK?

Avatar premiered in the London on December 10th 2009 and was released between December 16th and 18th. It was originally meant to be released on May 22nd 2009 but this was pushed back to allow more post-production time and to also give more time to theatres worldwide to install 3D projectors.

20th Century Fox, one of the biggest distributors in the US was responsible for the distribution (and production) of Avatar. There was a 'saturated release' of Avatar in the UK - it was shown in over 500 cinemas, many of which chose to show the movie in two or more screens. (both 2D and 3D screens.) Although this was costly, thanks to the successful marketing of the movie and the hype generated around its release, 20th Century Fox knew this would not be a risky move.

The other movies released at the same time as Avatar were all very different and seemed to cater for different audiences - some of these movies included:St Trinians 2 - The Legend of Fritton's Gold: this movie had a target market of young females and it's genre was predominantly comedy.
Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 - The Squeakuel: also distributed by 20th Century Fox although this film was aimed at children and also had a comedy genre.
Humpday: yet another comedy, this movie was aimed more at young adults/adults.
Unlike all of these movies which were also popular at the time, Avatar was the biggest blockbuster with the highest budget and the most special effects. It also offered a refreshing change of genre from the typical 'comedy' films that were out and it managed to target a very broad audience - those who enjoy action and sci-fi, fans of 3D/those who have never seen a 3D movie, teen boys, families, adults etc. Also, an extended sex scene between Jake and Neytiri was deleted from the movie in order to maintain a 12A rating, also broadening the audience.

By Natasha

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