On Sunday, the worldwide box office revenue for “Avatar: The Way of Water” surpassed $2 billion, securing its place as another successful franchise for the Walt Disney Co.
The movie needed to gross $2 billion, according to director James Cameron, in order to break even. Late in December, “The Way of Water” made its premiere, 13 years after the first “Avatar,” which presented the lush planet of Pandora and became an international sensation.
Disney believes that “The Way of Water” earned $2.024 billion at the box office on Sunday. It is currently the sixth-highest earning movie of all time after six weekends in theatres. Outside of the United States and Canada, overseas markets have contributed around $1.4 billion in ticket sales.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, “it’s an undeniable triumph.” You are in the pantheon of top franchises whenever your net worth is in the billions.
Disney has not provided the film’s budget, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was at least $350 million plus marketing expenses. Theaters and studios share ticket revenue.
Analysts predicted that the positive response to the movie will help drive visitors to a Pandora area at Walt Disney World in Florida and boost goods sales for years to come.
When Disney paid $71 billion for the assets of 21st Century Fox in 2019, “Avatar” was hailed as one of the crown jewels, a franchise it could elevate alongside Marvel and Star Wars. Investor activist Nelson Peltz, who is running for a position on Disney’s board, claims that the business overpaid for Fox.
The release date for the third “Avatar” film, which Cameron has already started filming, is set for December 2024. December 2026 and December 2028 are the scheduled dates for the fourth and fifth instalments.
The 9-foot-tall, blue Na’vi inhabitants of Pandora were the subject of the breakthrough graphics in the first “Avatar,” which mesmerised viewers. With $2.9 billion in worldwide ticket sales, the 2009 film continues to hold the record for biggest box office earnings.
Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana reprise their roles as parents of five kids ten years later as Jake Sully and Neytiri in “The Way of Water.” The family seeks sanctuary with an undersea tribe as humans return to pursue Jake.
The two “Avatar” movies and the 1997 drama “Titanic” are three of the top six movies of all time that Cameron has directed.
A lack of strong rivals has contributed to “The Way of Water’s” dominance at the box office. The thriller “Missing, Inc.” was the sole brand-new wide release from a major studio for the weekend “from Stage 6 Films and Screen Gems of Sony. a low-budget continuation of “Searching, 2018 “In “Missing,” Storm Reid plays a teenage girl looking for her mother who has vanished. The movie opened to $9.3 million despite having a $7 million budget.
Although January is traditionally a sluggish month for moviegoing, a few holdovers with outstanding performances have boosted attendance.
The sole family-friendly choice in theatres for the past month has been Universal Pictures’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” despite its modest December opening. With $11.5 million locally and $17.8 million internationally in its fifth week, it placed second. The worldwide revenue for the “Puss in Boots” sequel is $297.5 million.
Moviegoers have also remained interested in Universal’s eerie doll horror blockbuster “M3gan.” In its third week, it earned $9.8 million, increasing its domestic total to $73.3 million.
