‘The Way of Water’ from ‘Avatar’ is tracking for a domestic box office debut of $150-$170 million
James Cameron’s sequel sets sail in theaters around the globe in mid-December.
The anticipated follow-up Early tracking indicates that Avatar: The Way of Water, which will arrive in North American theatres on December 16, should debut to at least $150 million to $170 million. These estimates are conservative.
Avatar made history by becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time at the global box office, a title it still holds today with more than $2.92 billion in ticket sales, counting re-releases and not accounting for inflation. Directed by James Cameron, The Way of Water debuts on the big screen more than 13 years later. This total also includes $785.2 million in domestic revenue.
The Christmas corridor tentpole, according to more optimistic observers, may become just the fourth December tentpole to surpass $200 million in its opening weekend after Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1 million), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million) from the previous three years. One distinction: whereas the first Avatar was more of a slow burn, those movies were all fanboy extravaganzas.
Over the weekend of December 18–20, 2009, James Cameron’s ground-breaking film debuted to a $77 million opening and went on to enjoy a remarkable run.
Other factors: The Way of Water is three hours and ten minutes longer than Avatar, hence it will have shorter runtimes.
Avatar 2 aspires to join the select group of more enduring Hollywood tentpoles that have done blockbuster business in theaters, including Avengers: Endgame (three hours and 2 minutes) and Cameron’s Titanic (three hours and 14 minutes). The two films rank No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, on Comscore’s list of the top-grossing movies of all time at the worldwide box office behind Avatar, not adjusted for inflation.
When Disney acquired 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century, the Avatar franchise was included.
Along with his longstanding Lightstorm partner Jon Landau, Cameron produced the follow-up. Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Zoe Saldaa all appear in it.
To prepare viewers for the sequel, Disney and 20th Century released a remastered version of the first Avatar in September of this year. The film’s current worldwide box office earnings are more than $2.92 billion thanks to the rerelease, which brought in an astonishing $76 million or more.
Sully, played by Worthington, and Neytiri, a Na’vi woman, are once again at the core of Way of Water. Following their family, it picks up ten years after the first film and features newcomers to the franchise Vin Diesel and Kate Winslet.
Disney announced Tuesday night that The Way of Water has won a coveted China release on December 16. The announcement also came on tracking on Wednesday morning.