Avatar: The Way of Water‘s box office has topped $850 million globally. The Disney film was able to reach this mark in just 10 days. James Cameron’s sequel is now the fifth-highest grossing movie of the year. It seems that international box office has been the massive driver for The Way of Water. (As one would expect with its status as one of the only movies being shown in places like China that haven’t showcased all of the blockbusters available this year.) Only two projects have managed to reach $1 billion this year, Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion. But, Avatar is looking like it will be the third. Cameron can breathe a small sigh of relief at these returns. Much has been made of how commercially viable a property that’s waited this long between entries would be. But, the numbers kind of speak for themselves.
“‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is showing the strong endurance at the global box office we expected, particularly with its phenomenal performance internationally where several key markets grew their grosses over opening weekend,” Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX said when asked about the film’s prospects. “Our screens remain the destination of choice to experience this one-of-a-kind film.”
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How Much Pressure Is On Avatar 2?
Cameron recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the landmark film. He revealed that there was some serious studio pressure around The Way of Water. Numerous decision-makers involved in the production had a lot riding on the Avatar sequel measuring up to the first movie. Early box office returns were very encouraging, but the director probably hasn’t stopped sweating yet.
“I think there was a lot of tension around length,” Cameron said of the runtime questions. “And because it’s a complicated linear narrative, which is the worst scenario for trying to shorten, you’ve got a complex story servicing a lot of characters, and it’s like dominos falling: This has to happen for that to happen. You’re not following a bunch of parallel plot lines in a way that you could take a lot out.”
“The hardest thing when you’re trying to shorten a film is to hold onto the things that don’t advance the plot, that are beautiful or scary or suspenseful for their own sake,” the director continued, but he had more to say. “Things came out, and then if I felt the pacing was off, we put things back in.”
Do you think it will reach $1 billion? Let us know in the comments down below!
