{"id":161567,"date":"2022-12-18T19:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-18T19:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/avatar-2-box-office-opening-weekend\/"},"modified":"2022-12-18T19:28:00","modified_gmt":"2022-12-18T19:28:00","slug":"avatar-2-box-office-opening-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/avatar-2-box-office-opening-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Avatar 2’ Box Office Opening Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tJames Cameron’s long-awaited sequel \u201cAvatar: The Way of Water\u201d collected $134 million in its North American box office debut, affirming the public’s interest in Pandora and providing a needed boost to beleaguered movie theaters. <\/p>\n

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\tOverseas, the sci-fi epic brought in $301 million, bringing its global tally to a sizeable $435 million. Those ticket sales mark the third-biggest global opening weekend in pandemic times, following \u201cDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness\u201d ($442 million globally) and \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d ($600 million globally).<\/p>\n

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\tAt the domestic box office, \u201cAvatar 2\u201d tied with \u201cThe Batman\u201d to land the fifth-biggest opening of the year. The follow-up movie landed behind expectations, which pegged initial numbers closer to $150 million to $175 million. Yet Cameron’s films, which have raked in billions at the box office, often start slower and build over time. Disney, which holds the rights to \u201cAvatar\u201d after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019, hopes that’s the case again because \u201cThe Way of Water\u201d cost at least $350 million to produce and many millions more to market. Cameron says the film needs to become one of the top-grossing releases in history to break even and justify its massive price tag.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cExpectations aside, this is outstanding,\u201d says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. \u201cThe movie is set up for a very strong run through the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\tAs the sequel to the highest-grossing movie in history, Hollywood has some pretty high expectations for \u201cThe Way of Water,\u201d which is Cameron’s first movie to clear $100 million in a single weekend. The first \u201cAvatar\u201d opened in 2009 with $77 million domestically, a decent start but hardly one for the record books. But the movie enjoyed unparalleled staying power, holding the No. 1 spot for seven weeks in a row and kept drawing audiences for months. Thanks to pricey 3D tickets and repeat viewings, ticket sales eventually climbed to $760 million in North America and $2.92 billion globally.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cThe Way of Water\u201d will struggle to reach that benchmark, given the restrictions facing the COVID-battered box office. It won’t be playing in Russia, where the original movie grossed $116 million, and though it is screening in China (inaugural ticket sales for the sequel were behind expectations with $57.1 million during opening weekend), the country’s box office has been struggling to rebound In pandemic times, only three movies have crossed $1 billion worldwide and none have managed to hit $2 billion (though \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d came close with $1.9 billion). <\/p>\n

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\tLucky for \u201cThe Way of Water\u201d (though maybe not so lucky for theater owners), there’s not much competition through the rest of the year. However, its daunting 3-hour and 12-minute runtime could intimidate people from wanting to watch the movie again and again.<\/p>\n

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\tTurnout for \u201cAvatar 2\u201d was especially strong on Imax and 3D screens, with 62% of ticket sales coming from premium formats. Globally, the film made $48.8 million from Imax alone, registering as the company’s second-biggest weekend ever and highest December opening in history.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cAs excited as we are about these early results, we anticipate a long and successful run for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ as more people around the world book their ticket to Pandora for the epic storytelling and unmissable visual splendor of what James Cameron and his team have created,\u201d says Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax.<\/p>\n

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\tGiven the hype around Cameron’s grand return to Pandora, rival studios opted to lay low so holdover titles rounded out the rest of box office charts. Another Disney blockbuster sequel, Marvel’s \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever,\u201d slid to second place after five weeks at the No. 1 spot. The superhero epic added $5.3 million from 3,380 theaters, bringing its domestic tally to $418 million. <\/p>\n

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\tHorse No. 3, Universal’s holiday thriller \u201cViolent Night\u201d generated $5 million from 3,528 locations. After three weeks, the movie has grossed $34.9 million.<\/p>\n

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\tDisney movies took four out of the top five spots in North America, with \u201cStrange World\u201d and Searchlight’s dark comedy \u201cThe Menu\u201d taking fourth and fifth place, respectively. \u201cStrange World\u201d added $2.2 million from 2,870 theaters, bringing its tally to $33.7 million, a terrible result given its $200 million budget. \u201cThe Menu,\u201d which cost a fraction of \u201cStrange World,\u201d generated $1.7 million from 1,875 cinemas, taking its domestic total to $32.1 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tMore to come\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n