The Paramount Pictures released film took in an estimated $3 million from these early showings, effectively earning more than any other non-sequel this year at the box office from a midnight release.
This is certainly an impressive number for a movie aimed directly at young males, as well as fans of the original series it's based on it.
It could very well be that the ardent and devoted followers of the acclaimed animated Nickelodeon television series rushed out to see The Last Airbender during its midnight showings, which could inflate and diminish any analysis from what it made.
Either way, at this point it's still simply speculation. While the $3 million that The Last Airbender earned might seem small in comparison to the record $30 million haul Twilight Eclipse took in just one day ago, it's actually quite strong.
For comparisons sake, Iron Man made $3.5 million from midnight showings back in 2008, Watchmen earned $4.6 million, Avatar took in $3.6 million, and more recently Toy Story 3 grossed $4 million.
However, the only domestic box office total The Last Airbender has any chance of matching out of these films, is the lowest earner out of the group and that's Watchmen which earned $107.5 million.
In the end, The Last Airbender will not be able to turn a profit from domestic box office territories alone, and will have to rely on strong international numbers if it is to have a respectable worldwide total.
As much as I'd like nothing more than see M. Night Shyamalan's first big-budgeted summer picture to become a breakout success, it very simply cost too much to produce, as well as market.
The LA Times ran an article recently stating that The Last Airbender cost $150 just to make, and that Paramount has spent $130 million to advertise (though this might be overestimated in my opinion), giving the special effects heavy film a total cost of $280 million.
That means that the movie would have to earn more than $500 million at the box office for Paramount to turn any kind of profit, and while it will post strong numbers overseas, this could very well be out of reach.
DVD, Blu-Ray, TV Rights, and merchandising will definitely come into play for Paramount's recouping of costs from The Last Airbender.
The movie's box office numbers will certainly be something worth watching in the coming days, so please stay tuned. I'll be posting the latest box office results with analysis as soon as numbers are released.
