LOS ANGELES — Blue-skinned aliens are helping Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. see green.
The runaway global success of James Cameron’s 3-D spectacle “Avatar” — his first feature film since the record-breaking “Titanic” in 1997 — has prompted analysts to lift earnings estimates for News Corp., the owner of movie studio 20th Century Fox.
It’s fairly rare that a media conglomerate’s bottom line is affected by a single movie, but with more than $1.1 billion at box offices worldwide, partly boosted by higher 3-D ticket prices, “Avatar” has the potential to be the biggest of all time.
“Avatar” is the story of the Na’vi, tall blue creatures who must contend with humans who intend to grab resources from the moon the Na’vi live on. It was shot with special 3-D cameras, layered with breakthrough computer graphics and cost an estimated $400 million to make and market. In fact, before it came out, some analysts feared the otherworldly budget could drag News Corp. down. The Associated Press
