Remember the movie ‘Avatar’? Disney sure hopes you do

NEW YORK >> You may not have thought much about the 2009 movie “Avatar” over the past eight years, but Disney sure has. The Magic Kingdom is wagering a reported half-billion dollars that you and zillions of other people will line up for new theme park attractions based on the movie’s bioluminescent world of Pandora.

It’s a major gamble, even by Disney standards. While the movie smashed box- office records thanks to its dazzling 3-D effects and higher 3-D ticket prices, it’s also left little but a fading echo in pop-culture consciousness. There are no “Avatar” sequels, at least yet, and no spinoffs; memorable characters and catchphrases are also in short supply.

“I’ve never seen anybody ever walking down street wearing an Avatar t-shirt,” says Martin Lewison, a theme park expert and business management professor at Farmingdale State College in New York. “There’s no real emotional connection with ‘Avatar’ among the public despite the movie being so popular.”

CULTURAL PLUNDER

But theme parks are big business, and Disney is counting on what its executives call “Avatar Land” — the official name is “Pandora - World of Avatar” — to help keep that engine humming. In the fiscal year that ended in October, parks and resorts accounted for 31 percent of Disney’s nearly $56 billion in revenue, though only 21 percent of its nearly $16 billion in operating profit.

Disney also wants to prove it can turn its newer cultural properties, which include “Star Wars” and the Marvel superhero franchise, into popular themepark attractions. In that, it’s basically playing catchup with rival Universal Studios, which launched a hugely successful Harry Potter theme park in 2010.

Now the big question is whether Disney can pull that off with Avatar Land, or if it’s just chasing unobtainium. ( Yes, that’s an “Avatar” reference . See?)

On Tuesday, Disney reported earnings of $2.39 billion for the quarter ended April 1, up 11 percent from $2.14 billion a year earlier. Revenues rose 3 percent to $13.34 billion in the period, up from $12.97 billion. Parks and resorts revenue rose 9 percent in the period to $4.3 billion; operating profit in the segment jumped 20 percent to $750 million.

Revenue at Disney’s cable networks segment also grew, but operating income declined due to higher programming costs at ESPN. The sports network recently announced layoffs of about 100 employees.