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David Mumpower: The difference between the two is that Transformers had over 20 years of awareness. Avatar: The Last Airbender didn't even debut until 2005. During its run on Nickelodeon, it was quite popular. The numbers I've seen had it in the three million range for weekly viewers; the series finale was a huge hit for cable with around 5.6 million. I think that Transformers is analogous in that both experienced the same general level of popularity with viewers during their initial runs. The difference is that we didn't get a Transformers movie (a live action one anyway) for a full generation. The kids who were 12 when The Last Airbender ended its theatrical run are only 15 now, so it's much fresher for them. That does, however, limit the audience since it is not a situation where fathers take their sons to share the thing they loved as kids. This is supposed to be a trilogy and the toy sales for the franchise have been quite good. If you're asking me if this is a movie that makes $100 million domestically, I see it as a coin flip. Then again, I constantly underrated G.I. Joe prior to its release; this could be a case of me repeating a prior mistake.

Michael Lynderey: It looks like we're actually on the same page here. If I had to tap my brain's usual resources, I, too, would not even necessarily peg this as a $100 million earner.

I was under the impression, though, for whatever reason, that a lot of people thought this movie will be huge - you know, $250 million - $300 million huge. The 4th of July date helped fuel this impression.

But if it's just something like $130 million that most people see it earning, that makes perfect sense to me.

Max Braden: I have no awareness of the cartoon. This is for kids, right? Because I don't see a lot of appeal for college age and up. The effects look nifty, but I'm not going to feel moved to shell out money to see just that. And since this looks so unlike Shyamalan's other movies, his name attached to this is largely irrelevant to someone like me.

Pete Kilmer: Avatar The Last Airbender *had* a huge following a couple of years ago, but I have zero clue how it did internationally or on DVD. All I know is that it was one of the strongest cartoons for kids in years. It was a true quest show that kids, at the time, could relate to a bit, but really played well for adults as well. I hope this is good, but I'm really concerned about it. Having Shyamalan do it has me really worried as he's been off his game since The Village.

Jerry Simpson: While I don't disagree that Night has been off his game for a while, he's been the creator of those films. My hope is that by taking over a property with such a strong mythology, he will get it on track. There really isn't much for him to screw up with an origin story that's well known and liked.

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