James Cameron is on track to do it again. The first weekend box office projections are in for Avatar: The Way of Water, and just like its predecessor, the film is on track to make a freaking ton of money. Going into the promotional tour for the long-awaited sequel, Cameron has been candid that The Way of Water needs to crush it at the box office or else he’ll end the franchise with Avatar 3.
However, the writer/director has been more confident in recent weeks that the gargantuan film won’t “fall on its ass,” and the numbers appear to be on his side. Via Deadline:
The sequel to the James Cameron directed 3x Oscar winning 3D sci-fi movie arrives with a global outlook of $525M in what is Disney’s widest global release ever at 52K screens, surpassing Avengers: Endgame. Broken out that’s $175M on the high end in U.S./Canada and $350M overseas. Some tracking has Avatar: The Way of Water at $150M and if the movie arrives at the low level, it’s not the end of the world.
To be clear, over half a billion dollars in global box office in just the first weekend is a heck a lot of money, and yet, not a record. Spider-Man: No Way Home blasted by its projections and brought in $600 million even with the Omicron variant raging. The Way of Water is looking at much more favorable conditions, so it’ll be interesting to see if Cameron can snatch the box office crown from Marvel.
Early reviews have been almost unanimously praising the sequel’s 3D visuals, which are best experienced on the big screen. In fact, Uproxx‘s Mike Ryan went so far to say “these movies basically only exist for their theatrical run.”
(Via Deadline)
