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) to cut his fee in case the film flopped. Cameron installed a traffic light with the amber signal lit outside of co-producer Jon Landau's office to represent the film's uncertain future. In mid-2006, Fox told Cameron "in no uncertain terms that they were passing on this film," so he began shopping it around to other studios, and approached Walt Disney Studios, showing his proof-of-concept to then-chairman Dick Cook. However, when Disney attempted to take over, Fox exercised its right of first refusal. In , Fox finally agreed to commit to making "Avatar" after Ingenious Media agreed to back the film,