Avatar: The Way of Water Continues Its Success After Surpassing The $1-Billion Mark!
James Cameron has definitely done it again. Avatar’s sequel, The Way of Water, just crossed the $1 billion mark last Tuesday, less than two weeks or, to be exact, just 13 days after the movie’s global release.
The movie earned an impressive $900 million during the Christmas weekend, and it picked up more moviegoers last Monday, which was also Boxing Day. Again, timing is everything. Because last Christmas fell on a Sunday, many people had their days off, which allowed more people to watch the movie and spend time with their families and friends.
Avatar: The Way of Water snatched the number one spot for two straight weeks and has brought in a total of $19.5 million just during the holiday weekend. Despite the frigid temperatures in the US, with some theaters experiencing intermittent power outages and most of the highways closed, the pull to watch the epic second installment of Avatar was stronger.
During its global debut alone, it managed to garner a total of $434.5 million at the box office, and it has not stopped since.
James Cameron, Avatar’s director, is still keeping his fingers crossed because the film is now tied with Batman for the 4th highest domestic debut for 2022. Most importantly, James is calling in all the followers and fans because, based on his previous interview, James mentioned that Avatar: The Way of Water needed to earn a minimum of $2 billion to break even.
So yes, James, it is halfway there!
Compared to its predecessor, Avatar didn’t make the same noise or grand opening in 2009. It was released in mid-December, and the revenue started at $77 million until it reached its impressive domestic gross of $749.7 million. As of date, it still holds the record for earning a total of $2.7 billion globally, and this includes re-releases.
Several box office analysts are looking at Avatar: The Way of Water to rank fourth in the December movie releases and the fourth to exceed the $200 million opening weekend starting point.
So far, only three movies were able to accomplish that $200 million opening goal, Marvel’s Spider: No Way Home in 2021 and two Star War sequels: Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015 that earned $248 million and Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017 that grossed $220 million.
The first Avatar was indeed another successful James Cameron film, but its box office story was rather unusual and almost unpredictable. Most top-grossing movies gain success with intense opening weekends. This is the time when moviegoers flock to theaters.
But in 2009, Avatar didn’t clinch the top spot during its opening weekend. The Dark Knight dominated, but Avatar’s success was a huge contributor and game changer due to the public’s consistent viewing. Week over week, the same number of people watched the movie.
And this level of consistency is rarely seen in movies. The usual pattern is for the audience to start off strong and then dwindle weeks later. But not for Avatar.
This audience behavior, interest, and curiosity led Avatar to grab the top spot and hold on to it for the next eight weeks.
The entire team behind The Way of Water is hoping for that same consistency and success this time.
