Because no one has actually seen Avatar yet, the parlor game of choice in the last few weeks has been simply to try and guess how much the thing cost. Some say half a billion, Fox has previously claimed something like $250 million, and most everyone figures the actual number-- including R&D to create the brand-new cameras that Cameron used during production-- lies somewhere in-between.

But now Fox has at least copped to one thing-- it's definitely the most expensive movie they've ever made. "But now, having the luxury of hindsight, it is money well spent, so I'm not concerned about it," added Fox exec James Gianopulos when talking to CNN. Of course, Gianopulos still isn't foolish enough to claim that he actually knows Avatar will make money, rather sticking to tried-and-true generalizations. "Movies of this scale which play to a huge global audience have become quite expensive because of the nature of the technologies involved. But they also typically perform at the scale of that investment."

I really have nothing more to say about how much Avatar did or did not cost, and until I can finally see the thing, I won't be able to tell you whether it was worth it. In the final few days before press actually sees the movie, the wait is actually becoming excruciating. So I'm just going to leave things here.