Avatar 2: The Way of Water hasn’t opened on the bar that it was assumed to. Before the sequel’s release the early box office projections of the film showed that the sequel is on its way to open at $150-$175 Million at the domestic box office, however, that is not the insane number. The sequel’s is said to open with $450-550 Million worldwide. Which places it behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($583 Million). This is a disappointing start for Avatar 2 as the sequel also comes with a hefty price tag around $460 Million. This is possibly the most expensive film ever made. Well, we have the numbers of Avatar 2 from its first opening weekend and you can judge them yourself. According to Deadline, the opening weekend of Avatar: The Way of Water is shaping up to $135 million, which is even lower than the projections.
The sequel has failed to enter the Top 5 December Releases. The worldwide yield of the film has come around $435 Million which makes it the third biggest opening in the post pandemic era. The sequel is only behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home. The global cume is even lower than the projections which themselves were disappointing. Avatar 2 unlike the other two films in this list also got a release in China despite the tense relations between China and the US. Because of this Avatar 2 had added at least $100 Million in its kitty in the opening weekend. However, it looks like the China Box Office might’ve failed the film.
Avatar: The Way of Water Is Suffering In China!
Before Avatar: The Way of Water’s release it was enjoying immensely positive box office projections and reportedly high pre-sale numbers, However, a recent report suggests that the sequel’s financial success in China has been chopped to half due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in several regions across the country. A report by Variety says, the Way of Water has earned a total of only $57 million in its opening weekend, according to consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
What is more disheartening is that the Maoyan ticketing company had previously estimated a total gross of approximately $357 million before the release but the real figures are half as effective as the estimates are reduced to $143 million. This is despite China functioning with over 10,000 theatres. However, a positive element for the Way of Water is that despite the virus the film remains to be popular among audiences and has earned more than $100 Million in the opening and $14 Million in presales, as reported by Maoyan.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond expressed his excitement about the Way of Water releasing in China. He’d stated, “It’s one of the highest pre-sale levels we’ve ever seen. So I’m extremely excited about Avatar getting into China.” Avatar 2 is projected to cross over $1 Billion mark in the New Year week while it will reach $800 Million till Christmas. It is unclear how by much will this China issue cost Avatar 2’s earnings. Avatar 2 has to keep up with its insane budget and high expectations.
James Cameron has mentioned many times that he’d only make the remaining Avatar movies if the Way of Water makes money. If we have to talk numbers then Cameron has said that the sequel has to make at least $2 Billion for the third film to happen. That is a huge number, no film has managed to get that number since Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Spider-Man: No Way Home came very close to it but still didn’t cross it. So, if the sequel plans to pass this number it has to beat everything in the middle.
Watch the Official Trailer For Avatar 2: The Way of Water on YouTube:
Avatar: The Way of Water is slated to release on 16th December 2022.
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