According to foreign media outlet The Verge, Disney announced updates and news for almost every movie. But one of the company's biggest franchise franchises, Avatar, has strangely disappeared. There is no Avatar section in the investor call, as well as a preview image to showcase its sequel and a logo or subtitle for Avatar 2. There wasn't any news of the Avatar Disney+ show, nor any animated spin-offs to help further expand the brand across the Disney empire.
In more than 50 announcements covering Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar titles, Avatar is missing. Connected brands and stories have become the lifeblood of Disney, but Avatar didn't participate.
While not originally the property of Disney, in the landmark 2019 merger, the company, along with other companies at 20th Century Fox, acquired the rights to the blockbuster film directed by James Cameron. Long before it owned the film rights, the company had invested heavily in the "Avatar" brand, and in 2017 it set up a special Pandora district at Disney World. On Disney+, Avatar has been in a prominent position — until last year it was replaced by Avengers: Endgame, one of the most profitable films of all time last year, grossing more than $2.7 billion. 20th Century Fox Pictures previously revealed that there are still four "Avatar" in production.
Between 20th Century Fox's inheritance investment in Pandora's future and Disney's own $500 million theme park, James Cameron's imaginary blue aliens play a big role in the balance sheet. This is a huge investment for the company. Disney's entire affair is about proving to investors (and the world) how strong the Disney brand is. However, it doesn't provide any information about the second-largest movie sequel in history.
The first two sequels have been filmed simultaneously for three years, and Avatar 2 — according to Disney's latest theatrical release date — remains prominently on the schedule for December 16, 2022. James Cameron's sequel will also alternate with another of Disney's major sci-fi films, Star Wars, in the December slot. However, although Disney is willing to announce the title and details of the next Star Wars movie in 2023, at the more than 4-hour press conference, the filmmakers did not even mention the word "Avatar".
Foreign media believe that part of the answer may lie in the "depreciation" after the record-breaking premiere of "Avatar". For a film like Avatar, which was a huge success in 2009, the film itself had little impact on the entire cultural landscape and was not commensurate with its huge box office numbers. Other hit movies, such as Titanic, Star Wars, and the Avengers movies, are part of the modern zeitgeist. The cultural prominence of Avatar has faded over the years. Popular videos or posts that try to recall the details of a movie stand out more than the carefully created characters or worlds of the movie.
Whether the "Avatar" sequel will be close to the box office of the first is unknown, and the advantage of the first is to ride the double wave of 3D movie box office expansion and immersive CGI hype, which is not the advantage that the second film in more than a decade will have. In addition, when Disney first acquired the franchise, it had not yet decided whether to give the green light to Cameron's fourth and fifth films.
Disney's investor phone announcement is a blueprint for the company's future. This path is firmly built on its strengths: popular brands such as Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars, the expansion of modern classic animations such as Moana and Toy Story, and shows that remake or further build popular attributes such as "Wild Duck Becomes Phoenix" or "Posey Jackson and the Thief of Fire."