Topline
Avatar: The Way of Water brought in an estimated $134 million in its opening weekend, topping the box office charts but performing slightly below expectations for the film–one of the most expensive in modern movie history that creator James Cameron said needed to gross $2 billion in order to be considered a success.
Avatar: The Way of Water brought in an estimated $134 million in domestic ticket sales in its … [+] opening weekend and $435 million globally. (20th Century Studios vía AP)
Key Facts
Avatar: The Way of Water netted $17 million in Thursday previews, $36 million on Friday and $44.5 million on Saturday in ticket sales across 4,202 theaters, Deadline reported.
Internationally, the film brought in $301 million in ticket sales since it began airing on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The Avatar sequel was initially projected to make up to $170 million, but Deadline lowered its expectations to between $130 million and $150 million after its opening on Friday.
The Disney film tied “The Batman” in its March debut for the fourth biggest opening this year; “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” leads this year’s box office opening charts at $187.4 million, U.S. News and World Report reported.
Key Background
The film, starring Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, brought in nearly double the $26.7 million earned by the first Avatar movie on its opening day. The 2009 film netted nearly $3 billion in total ticket sales, making it the highest-grossing film of all time. Long-term estimates for the success of Avatar: The Way of Water show an optimistic outlook—20% of presales are for shows after this weekend, Deadline reported, multitudes above the 5% future presales for an average Marvel movie. What’s more is that Mondays during the holiday season are as popular of a movie-going day as an average Saturday, according to Deadline. The film is also raking in positive reviews, with a 91% audience exit CinemaScore.
Big Number
62%. That’s the share of movie-goers who saw Avatar: The Way of Water in Imax, premium large format and 3D theaters.
Further Reading
‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Rakes In $53 Million Opening Day—Which May Not Be Enough (Forbes)
