AMC show sequel funding progress

December was a crazy month for the movies. I was fortunate enough to see Marty Supreme, We Bury the Dead, and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Timotheé’s performance was incredible though that movie was stressful, Australian zombie movies are always fun, and while the plot and script of Avatar were a bit punishing, the visuals were astounding. These movies were designed to be viewed in theaters.

The first Avatar netted $2.9B at the box office. The sequel made $2.3B. Press has been split about the third installment’s performance, which has already passed a billion dollars, though it cost $400m to produce. If I was a better man (I said yesterday I’m not), I’d wager the 4th and 5th movies will be made. This all got me thinking though, what if on movie apps like AMC, you could actually see how many tickets need to be sold for a sequel to be approved?

While a fun idea, this concept fails to fundamentally understand the nuances of how movies get made. Even if the film is a smash hit and the studio wants to make it, James Cameron could decide he’s not interested. Or maybe it makes nearly $2B but executives are concerned about the diminishing returns of each movie. The solution? One faithful film buff buys 36M tickets, obviously.

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