This past weekend marked a moment that many likely assumed happened years or months ago. From the stage of the San Diego Comic-Con in Hall H, Marvel head Kevin Feige proudly declared that Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time. With all of the inflated prices and surcharges of tickets, it's strange that it took this long to happen. However, it is highly representative of one trend in the modern age. Superhero movies are here to dominate, forever drawing in billions, as Avengers did on opening weekend internationally. While this is just a part of the industry, it's a bit of a disappointment to see this moment come because it marks the end of a certain era, where there was still some optimism that an original film would capture the market as well as Cameron's. Considering that the filmmaker has promised to only do Avatar sequels from now on, it doesn't look like even he's going to fight for this honor. It's a bit of a triumphant day, but also a reminder that those wanting original cinema will have an even harder time getting it.
Nowadays, there's a simple punchline that Avatar is remembered for: the most popular film that nobody remembers. As someone who was following the box office charts in 2009 and 2010, it was quite daunting to see the numbers rise. After all, Cameron had the previous record holder for highest-grossing film, 1997's Titanic. It helped that it was released during a time where period romances were a lot more popular with audiences, and the lack of home media meant that one had to go to the cinema to get the theatrical experience. By 2009 when he finally returned, he found a new way to entertain audiences by incorporating 3D technology into his landscapes, offering audiences something wholly original and innovative. It won Oscars, was nominated for Best Picture and marked a period where films were retrofitted to 3D. It ironically lead to the rise of ridiculous surcharges that have only recently begun to fade away though added to the Avengers: Endgame final numbers of $2.7 billion.
For a few years, Avatar was both the most acclaimed and maligned film of the moment. Those who bought into the magic of Pandora were quick to embrace its imagery. Others merely saw it as a rip-off of Dances with Wolfs or Disney's Pocahontas. With that said, Cameron's approach was original in spite of being in the sci-fi trappings of exploring a new world. He created his own language and ecosystem. It worked so well that it would lead to a new theme park in Florida, and the endless amount of promises to release sequels only to have them inevitably delayed. The promise of them being the greatest works of digital art to ever be seen remain comments widely mocked. Still, the film drew an audience that reminded audiences what the spectacle of filmmaking inevitably could offer.
With that said, Avatar is on the verge of turning 10-years-old this December, and the idea that it took nine years to be surpassed at the box office is telling. Speaking as films like Alice in Wonderland were grossing a billion dollars as early as months after Avatar, it seemed like an inevitable challenge. Star Wars: The Force Awakens seemed like it would get there, especially as the first of the new wave of Star Wars films. Even that fell short. Many have continued to come close, including a dozen or so Disney movies, with even their animation division challenging the title with Frozen and Toy Story 3. Still, Avatar was above the rest in spite of the growing ridicule. Many films were arguably better, but Cameron being a marketing genius definitely helped make his case strong.
The one criticism lobbied against Avengers: Endgame is one that says a lot about what it takes to be the highest-grossing film at the moment. Endgame is the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and thus needed 20 films to make it matter. Even if talking about direct films influencing Endgame, it was preceded the year before with a notorious cliffhanger in Avengers: Infinity War. There's so much context around the film that is needed to understand its success. It's in part that Marvel has become a juggernaut in the industry, with each film debuting atop the box office charts. It's also evident that Disney paid for 24-hour screenings during the first few days. Sure, it benefitted from anticipation, but many saw it as the final chapter to a franchise, where iconic characters were going to bid their farewell. If you didn't see it by July, you would be spoiled by Spider-Man: Far From Home, the MCU's technical "sequel" to Endgame.
As much as Avatar could be accused of lacking original ideas, it was praised by those decrying Endgame for being able to achieve its status on the first outing, without any additional context. Odds are that Endgame will age poorly, or at least require extensive viewing for anyone to fully understand. As much as it culminates the most recent cinematic trend, it also is a sign that Disney has a stranglehold on pop culture. The summer of 2019 has definitely shown that with every non-Disney blockbuster practically bombing. Considering that Disney also bought Fox Studios, Avatar by the time that it was dethroned was a Disney movie. It's all convoluted but reflects that even the originality has been consumed by the big corporations. As much as films are designed to entertain, it's a bit disheartening that the lack of original films in the modern Top 10 highest-grossing films will not be beaten by anything original - at least with the way that trends have been going.
Some could see this as the decay of society, or the lack of original ideas. What's a bigger issue is that nothing can compete with Disney because they don't have the means to. Nobody is as popular as Avengers, and Frozen's success was merely a fluke. With Cameron's latest film, he co-wrote Alita: Battle Angel, bombing, it's hard to think that he'll ever come up with an idea as fruitful as Avatar. There may be a novel idea to come out, but audiences are drawn largely to spectacle now. Spielberg's recent stints into blockbusters, such as Ready Player One, do well but can't compare. Films will succeed, but to become the highest-grossing film will take even more of a challenge with ticket prices skyrocketing and the idea that audiences are becoming more niche to the point that they're only reaching target audiences. There's no way it will top it, and that only reflects how Disney is going to only ever have problems beating Disney.
The monoculture of pop culture is evident in Endgame's success. For those who love the film, it's not a bad thing. In fact, it symbolizes society as it currently exists. However, the era of an original film getting the top honor is gone likely for good. Many argue that it's been that way for decades with the shift from mature dramas like Kramer vs. Kramer dominating the box office to a spectacle like the original Star Wars embodying the blockbuster trend the charts would shift towards. Even then, the ideas were sometimes innovative and original thanks to talents like Spielberg informing a kind of awe that stemmed from his own imagination. Even he knows that Marvel will one day reach peak saturation, but what will replace it?
In some ways, it's a fitting way to clock in Avatar's decade anniversary by having it beat at the box office. After all, it's been years of ridicule. However, for a film that quietly impacted the modern trajectory of the film it deserved a more triumphant way to go out. If nothing else, it deserved a film that felt like its own beast and not reliant on another piece of a bigger puzzle. Most of all, it shouldn't have rewarded the sense of a culture melding together under one studio. Ideas need to come from all over, and that's what Avatar will at least embody better than any Disney film since 2009. The spectacle came from a filmmaker who tried something new and showed how technology can be used to better the medium. All that Avengers: Endgame does is show that audiences will stick around if there's eventually the promise of reward. These films are still good, but the fact that there is a need to know encyclopedias of knowledge to appreciate a film now is a sad state of affairs. It's only going to get more complicated, especially with Feige announcing a multiverse and other abstract concepts. The MCU is about to get weird, and that's a nice shift - but will the recent box office success prove that audiences will get into abstract fantasy? It's hard to say, but it's doubtful that it will be as streamlined as Avatar was a decade ago.
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