With the numbers coming in, James Cameron’s big-budget sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” is currently tracking to pull in a worldwide launch of over $410 million, with $280 million of that coming from overseas.
The film’s first three offshore days are tracking 83% above “Avatar,” 69% ahead of “Top Gun: Maverick,” 59% above “Jurassic World Dominion” and 39% behind “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.
It’s coming in under the $450-525 million projections being thrown about earlier this week, partly due to China still coming out of a COVID lockdown. Yet it has also seen encouraging day-to-day holds and a positive audience reaction (including an ‘A’ CinemaScore) which bodes well for the coming weeks.
Domestically the film pulled in $53 million on Friday, including Thursday night previews, and is on track for a three-day opening in the $130-150 million range. Even if it comes in at the lower end of estimates, rival studios all believe the film will keep having a strong play in the weeks to come.
In addition, it seems plenty of people are demanding premium seating to see the film with IMAX and high-end screen presentations in high demand. Domestically Imax and PLF tickets drove 32% of preview sales, with another 31% from 3D theaters.
Disney has stressed that the film’s success depends more on its long-term playability as opposed to its opening weekend number. Advance ticket sales for the film have been spread out over the weekend and well into Christmas week, as opposed to being heavily front-loaded like a Marvel film.
As such, we’re not expected to get a good idea of the film’s long-term potential until after the New Year weekend.
Source: Deadline
