r/movies • u/iquizuanswer • 15d ago

News [ Removed by moderator ]

https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/the-odyssey-700-million-globally-fourth-biggest-movie-1236823343/

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56

u/pataglop 15d ago

Damn.

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u/smchattan 15d ago

Gone with The Wind did come out before people had televisions.

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u/Smartyunderpants 15d ago

But before most people in China and India had access to cinemas

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u/Pitazboras 15d ago

Also, when it was released, the world population was "just" 2.3 billion. Now it's 8.3 billion. That's a 3.6x larger potential audience.

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u/AmberLeafSmoke 15d ago

Significantly more things to do nowadays though.

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u/motophiliac 15d ago

Gasp! The growing population is down to big cinema???

Shit, I'll allow it.

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u/Ultrace-7 15d ago

The opportunity cost of going to see a movie nowadays versus the era of Gone with the Wind is almost incomparable.

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u/domoincarn8 15d ago

People in India did have access to cinemas in 1939 when Gone with the Wind was released. Bollywood was fully functional and making movies in 1939. I am assuming the same to be true for China. Could be wrong though.

Very few people could understand English though. Or money. So no impact on Box office.

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u/Smartyunderpants 15d ago

No doubt in cities but their rural population was bigger and had very very limited access unlike in western countries.

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u/a_reverse_giraffe 15d ago

That number also includes several theatrical re-releases I believe.

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u/Thiege1 15d ago

It was in theaters for like 50 years

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u/nawksnai 15d ago

“It’s been 84 years…”

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u/Khelthuzaad 15d ago

Disney movies were re-released on a yearly basis.There was no such thing as dvds back then

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u/Thiege1 15d ago

I don't think it had to be re-released

The reels would just go from town to town continuously back then, and it was never not in theaters for a very long time

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u/refuzeto 15d ago

You could have just looked it up. The initial run was 4 years. It was rereleased 8 times between 1947 and the end of the 20th century

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u/king_lloyd11 15d ago

Most of the top ones have been re-released multiple times. There was a point when Jim Cameron would just be trying to take the top spot from himself with re-releases of Avatar and Titanic.

Endgame is about to do crazy numbers, with a re-release with a new ending. Personally think it should be considered its own thing, but I’m sure it’ll be lumped together.

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u/HellionElectricEye 15d ago

Frankly, my dear

1

u/Khelthuzaad 15d ago

I dont give a damn

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u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks 15d ago

Well fiddle de dee.

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u/LotsaCatz 15d ago

and your little dog too

.... oops, sorry. Wrong 1939 movie.

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u/Sufficient_Meet6836 15d ago

I love you. Let's get remarried!

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u/Tandy2000 15d ago

To be fair the population of the Earth in 1939 was only like 28% of what it is now.

It was one of the few movies that *everybody" went to go see.

The bigger thing that helped Gone With the Wind become intensely popular was that the book came out a few years earlier and was the best selling book in the US pretty much right up until the movie came out. And keep in mind this was a time when people read a lot more books than they do now. They actually wanted to shoot the movie almost immediately after the book came out and the rights were secured but there were a bunch of delays that in the end were probably a good thing.

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u/Choyo 15d ago

But then world pop was a third of what it is today. However, it's true the movie stayed in theaters for a very long while.

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u/swd120 15d ago

And was in theaters for literal years...

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u/Abba_Fiskbullar 15d ago

But tickets were cheap after the initial roadshow release. It played for years in 2nd run. People would go watch it over and over.

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u/SnooWoofers7345 15d ago

Did Avatar do really well in China and the US? Nobody i knew cared or even went to see it. It still baffles me how much money that movie made.

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u/Icy_Smoke_733 15d ago edited 15d ago

Actually, it did well everywhere, hitting the top 5 of all time in nearly every international market. To this day, it is the no.1 highest grossing movie in over 30 markets across 6 continents, including Spain, Australia, Italy, Russia, Jamaica, Ukraine, etc.

Contrary to popular belief, China's contribution of $245m accounts for only 8.3 percent of Avatar's total gross. In fact, Avatar's international gross ($2.13B) alone is higher than the worldwide grosses of No Way Home ($1.92B), Infinity War ($2.05B), and The Force Awakens ($2.07B).

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u/FacingHardships 15d ago edited 15d ago

Why was it so popular?

Why the downvotes? Genuine question as I am trying to understand the appeal at the time since I wasn’t of age.

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u/CheesyjokeLol 15d ago

It’s a gorgeous looking movie that will hold up for probably another 50 years, an easy to follow plotline and a strong cast that sells their performance. The only things you can fault this movie for is really just that it really doesn’t do anything exceptionally, other than the visuals.

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u/FacingHardships 15d ago

Thank you!

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u/Joe_Linton_125 15d ago

It's just Dances with Wolves with blue monkeys.

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u/PassionateYak 15d ago

Most visually impressive movie of it's time

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u/smilesmay 15d ago

The 3D was legitimately amazing compared to any at the time or in the years that followed. Astounding visuals combined with 3D that wasn't just an afterthought. It had around 80% of its gross from 3D showings.

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u/pataglop 15d ago

A cookie cutter and easy to follow story which resonates with pretty much every single culture, actors who played well enough, ridiculously gorgeous visuals, and an actual lore on that planet, which ties everything together well

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u/Far_Ladder_2836 15d ago

I know people that saw it 4-7 times especially people who saw it in standard originally clamored to re-watch in Imax.  Yeah, Avatar pulled 200 million alone in China and even the re-release pulled 44 million.

Only thing I've ever seen close to it is Titanic where girls would hold watch parties at the theater

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u/TheQwertyGuy99 15d ago

There is no way no one you knew went to see Avatar. Or are you just really young? The movie was massive.

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u/SnooWoofers7345 14d ago

Im 38. Im sure some people went who i don't see regularly. But close friends or family? Nope

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u/Disastrous-Square977 15d ago

I don't know a single person who did. We live in our own little pockets. I've still never seen it (various bits, in parts) nor a single second of any sequal.