Avatar: The Way of the Wateris ringing in the new year with continually growing box office success. After hitting the$1 billion markonly a handful of days ago, the film is at $1.37 billion globally and on track to hit $1.4 soon. Despite having released in some international territories before the US, the film hit the billion dollar milestone at just shy of two weeks. It’s currently projected to end with a final total somewhere between $1.6 and $1.9 billion.
Heading into 2023,Way of the Waterholds the second-highest spot of the global box office, having surpassedJurassic World: Dominion($1 billion). It also recently passedDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness($955 million),Minions: The Rise of Gru($939 million), andBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever($820 million). Legacy sequelTop Gun: Maverickmaintains its #1 position with $1.49 billion.
Domestically,Way of the Watersurpassed its 2009 predecessor in opening weekend, raking in $134 million overAvatar’s $77 million. However,Way of the Waterstill has a lot of catching up to do. The first movie had more consistency in sales and reaped the benefits of multiple theatrical re-releases. As such, it was able to earn $2.9 billion globally, whereas the sequel will ultimately need to gross approximately $2 billion tobreak even. However, over this past weekend, the film saw a 2% increase as it grossed $63.4 million. It’s current domestic total is$420 million.
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Way of the Waterbrings viewers back to Pandora over a decade after the events ofAvatarand follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their family. With their home plagued by war with the humans, they are forced to flee to the water clans, all the while working with the other Na’vi to protect Pandora. The film was directed byJames Cameronwho co-wrote withRick JaffaandAmanda Silver.
Apropos of any conflicting opinions on the film,Way of the Waterhas garnered high praise where its visual effects are concerned. LikeAvatarbefore it, the sequel ups the ante of its visuals, thanks to Cameron’s ambitious vision and the VFX team’s stunning accomplishments. In his review, Collider’sRoss Bonaimecredits many of the film’s assets to its visuals, including how motion capture helps with its character developments, and the water aspect that’s “almost hard to believe that this isn’t some real world that Cameron has found and is presenting to the world.”
Avatar: The Way of the Wateris out now in theaters. Watch our interview with Cameron below:
