The earliest tracking estimates are out for James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and the sequel is set to make a much splashier debut than its predecessor did.
Cameron’s original sci-fi epic debuted to a strong $77 million in December 2009, but it was the film’s legs over the next few months that led to it becoming the box-office phenomenon that it became as the film’s drop-offs were relatively minimal for many weeks.
According to Box Office Pro, the earliest projections for the upcoming sequel is currently on track to bring in anywhere between $135-175 million over its first three days in cinemas. It’s a large window, to be sure, but those projections will likely tighten (and potentially increase) as we get closer to the film’s opening.
The numbers certainly push back against naysayers who’ve criticised the film for numerous things, from its long runtime to the long-running arguments that can basically be summed up as “who cares about Avatar?”.
That would put it in the range of the third or fourth biggest opening of the year, behind only Disney’s three Marvel films this year. “Avatar: The Way of Water” is set to arrive in cinemas on December 16th.
