AVATAR RETURNS FROM THE BLUE YONDER

A slightly longer Avatar returns to 811 3D and IMAX theaters this weekend, and some box-office forecasters are predicting that it will outperform two new movies that are opening on nearly three times as many screens. Other movie gurus aren’t so sure, making the case that everyone who has wanted to see the movie already has — either in theaters or home video — and that those 8 1/2 minutes of additional scenes are not going to matter to them. The Los Angeles Times observed today (Friday) that predictions for the opening weekend of the “special edition” range from $5 million to $20 million. The two new movies The Last Exorcism and Takers — each of them low-budget B movies — are expected to gross around $15-20 million.