Avatar 2 didn’t open with the big numbers we expected it to. The film grossed $435 Million in its opening weekend, which is less than Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($449 Million) and consequently Spider-Man: No Way Home ($587 Million). This is worrisome for James Cameron’s sequel as it has to keep up with the unreal expectations attached to it as it is the sequel to the biggest movie of all time Avatar ($2.9 Billion). Apart from this, the sequel’s budget is unreal as well. According to recent reports, the production budget of Avatar: The Way of Water is much higher than previously told. It is around $460 Million which makes it the costliest film ever to be produced in Hollywood.
Cameron has mentioned countless times that he’d only make the rest of the Avatar sequels if The Way of Water makes money and by that he meant that the sequel should at least gross $2 Billion. Releasing one week before Christmas, with no big competitor The Way of Water has all the resources to make it happen and despite its underwhelming opening the sequel is going might strong at the box office. With its collection reaching up to $900 Million in the second week. The film is doing phenomenal business in regions like India where it has grossed more than $37 Million. The Chinese box office is suffering but the sequel has still managed to collect more than $100 Million. However, this is nothing in comparison to the milestone that the sequel has crossed now.
Avatar: The Way of Water Becomes The Third Highest Grossing Film of 2022!
James Cameron has done it again. This is his third film in a row to cross this huge milestone. So, despite having a “weak” opening, the film jumped back and held its audience in the second week. It is going mighty strong on the box office just like all other James Cameron films. So, on Monday the film’s tally came up to $955 Million which already means that the sequel has crossed Marvel’s highest grossing film of the year- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($955 Million).
Monday’s tally itself puts the film third on the list of highest grossing films of 2022, just behind Jurassic World: Dominion ($1.03 Billion) and Top Gun: Maverick ($1.48 Billion). Avatar: The Way of Water’s Tuesday’s collection will easily take it pass the $1 Billion mark worldwide but there is nothing surprising about this, right? Who didn’t expect the sequel to Avatar not even get to $1 Billion? However, the surprising thing is that the film has managed to reach this milestone in only 12 days.
For reference, Top Gun: Maverick took 31 days to get there while Jurassic World: Dominion took 4 months. This puts The Way of Water 3rd on the list of Fastest Films to get to $1 Billion. It is tied with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the third spot. The first two films being Avengers: Infinity War (11 days) and Avengers: Endgame (5 days). There are only 7 movies till now that have reached $1 Billion in two weeks of its release.
These 6 movies belong big Hollywood franchises like The Jurassic Park Series, Marvel’s Avengers and Spider-Man, Star Wars and now the sequel has also put the Avatar series on this list. The projections had predicted that the film will reach $800 Million till Christmas and $1 Billion after New Year’s. The sequel went above and beyond the predictions. With no major competition till February when Marvel’s Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania releases, the film will have more than two months of uninterrupted box office run.
I think considering all this it is safe to assume that the sequel would definitely cross the $2 Billion mark. Some experts have even predicted that the sequel has a shot at getting to the sacred $2.9 Billion of its predecessor but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For now what we can say is the sequel is doing great business at the box office and it will continue to do so. The Way of Water is definitely going to bring home the big bucks. Cameron can relax and concentrate on making Avatar 3 as that is happening for sure.
Watch the Official Trailer For Avatar 2: The Way of Water on YouTube:
Avatar: The Way of Water is currently playing in theatres near you and is reportedly start streaming on Disney+ from March 17th 2023.
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