Avatar: The Way of Water lingers beneath the intimidating shadow of 2009’s Avatar, which blew the box office doors off its hinges when it officially arrived in theaters during the holiday season. The original narrative greatly benefited from the inquisitive holiday crowd, which helped the project to amass incredible success on the way to an over $2 billion worldwide performance. Avatar has reigned supreme as the highest-grossing film of all time for several years, with the sequel looking to reach even greater heights.
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As reported by Deadline, James Cameron’s Avatar sequel looks to earn $525 million worldwide by the conclusion of its opening theatrical weekend. The projections broken down indicate that the narrative will take home roughly $175 million at the domestic box office and $350 million from overseas. Of course, early projections have the natural ability to fluctuate in either direction, but if true, the domestic number would give the Avatar sequel one of the highest opening weekend performances of the year.
The Pandora narrative, however, would fall slightly short of delivering the highest opening weekend performance of the year if the estimated domestic number stay true to form. The coveted honor currently belongs to Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which took home an impressive $187.4 million to end its debut weekend. Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever generated a noteworthy $180 million to close out its debut weekend, delivering the years second-best opening behind the Doctor Strange sequel. The Avatar sequel has a chance to surpass both Marvel projects, but early receptions and word of mouth will be an integral component of early success, especially since most may be motivated to stay home because of the colossal runtime.
Avatar: The Way of Water will be one of the final films to close out the theatrical year, and it will look to dominate the box office to justify the expensive price tag it reportedly costs to make the film. Projections indicate the film is on pace to win the domestic box office this weekend, but it will be interesting to see how long the film can stay atop the standings. The Avatar sequel is ultimately chasing Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick, the year’s highest-grossing film with over $1 billion earned worldwide. Avatar: The Way of Water has a long journey ahead, but earning half-billion throughout one weekend would be an exceptional start.
Avatar: The Way of Water will hit theaters on December 16, 2022.
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Source: Deadline
