Avatar Sequel Dominates The Box Office For A Second Week: An indication that the sequel may survive into the new year and meet the enormous expectations that greeted its release, “Avatar: The Way of Water” soared to the top of the box office in its second weekend, earning what studios predict Sunday will be a robust $56 million in North America.
James Cameron’s digital extravaganza for 20th Century Studios has earned $253.7 million domestically in its first 10 days of release. By comparison, the first “Avatar,” which was released in 2009 and would later become the highest-grossing movie of all time, only managed to make $212.7 million during the same period.
While some of Cameron’s movies, such as the first “Avatar” and “Titanic,” tend to do well at the box office, sequels often start off strong and fall down rapidly, making it difficult to predict how the movie will perform. Given how blockbusters start, its decline from the $134 million it earned in its first weekend to $70 million on the second weekend was not abrupt.
According to senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore, this marks James Cameron’s first $100 million opening. It demonstrates the film’s staying power since it had such a strong opening and only dropped 58%.
Experience Avatar: The Way of Water in 3D now playing only in theaters. Get tickets: https://t.co/ILR3jmfwaU pic.twitter.com/sL9aJkaCvZ
— 20th Century Studios (@20thcentury) December 24, 2022
With $855 million worldwide, “The Way of Water” has already surpassed “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World Dominion” as the third highest-grossing movie of 2022. It is expected to approach $1 billion.
Looking ahead, the movie is also in good shape because additional holiday time is on the way and there won’t be any comparable competition until Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is released in February.
However, storms across the US may force people indoors.
The weather, according to Dergarabedian, is currently Avatar’s biggest enemy.
With only $11.35 million in its first weekend, Universal’s animated Shrek spinoff “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek as voices, came in a distant second.
“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” a Sony biography, came in third place with $5.3 million.
“Babylon,” the historical epic of early Hollywood from “La La Land” director Damian Chazelle starring Brad Pitt and Margo Robbie, was the biggest letdown of the festival. In a nationwide release, it only garnered $3.5 million, placing it in fourth place.
The industry was concerned that viewers weren’t rushing to the theatres for such movies after the lukewarm $6.5 million opening weekend of director David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam,” another movie from the same time period that featured prestige, grandeur, star power, and a renowned auteur.
Concerns were well-founded because “Babylon” scarcely covered “Amsterdam’s” debut weekend.
The upcoming weeks of theatrical release, online streaming, and whatever nominations it might receive could help “Babylon” move past the stigma of a dud.
According to Dergarabedian, “Babylon is a movie that isn’t about the opening weekend.” “We’ll have to see how it does in the ensuing weeks and into the new year, especially if it garners additional awards attention.”
Comscore’s projected ticket sales for Wednesday through Sunday at theatres in the United States and Canada are shown in parenthesis. Monday will see the announcement of the final domestic data.
1. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” $56 million.
2. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” 11.35 million.
3. “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” $5.3 million.
4. “Babylon,” $3.5 million.
5. “Violent Night,” $3.14 million.
6. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” $3 million.
7. “The Whale,” $924,000.
8. “The Menu,” $617,000.
9. “The Fabelmans,” $550,000.
10. “Strange World,” $410,000.
FAQs
1. How is the box office performance of Avatar?
The Way of Water, which has already made $855 million worldwide and is expected to cross $1 billion, is currently the third-highest-grossing movie of 2022, behind only Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion.
2. When will Avatar 2 be released?
On Friday, December 16, 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water was released in theatres all across the world.
3. How can I view “The Way of the Water”?
A Disney Plus membership is required to stream Avatar: The Way of Water at this time.
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