Avatar (2009 film) the Rings" (literature). It was a tougher sell ..." The film received mostly positive reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 83% based on 301 reviews, with a rating average of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads "It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but "Avatar" reaffirms James Cameron's singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking." On Metacritic — which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening
Avatar (2009 film) universe in early 2006. "Avatar" was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion. The film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology. "Avatar" premiered in London on , 2009, and was internationally released on and in the United States and Canada