Box Office: ‘Avatar 2’ opens to $134 million, behind expectations but still great

James Cameron Avatar: Water Road It topped the domestic box office opening with an estimated $134 million, lower than expected but still a big number as the film heads down the year’s grossest pass in terms of cinema.

Even competing studios believe Avatar 2 It’ll have strong legs through the holidays and into 2023, thanks to A CinemaScore and strong audience exit scores. Traditionally, days of the week such as Saturday could be between now and the New Year. Distribution sources also say advance ticket sales have exploded during this week, as opposed to being front-loaded.

Overseas, Tent Pole 3D debuted at $301 million to a worldwide start of $435 million, among the best offerings in the pandemic era. from disney and the twentieth century, water way It cost $350 million – $400 million to produce, making it one of the most expensive pictures in recent Hollywood history. In previous interviews promoting the sequel, Cameron had indicated that it would need to gross $2 billion to be considered a success.

Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested the film’s release would be $150 million to $175 million domestically and $450 million to $550 million globally. Overseas, the film had a coveted release day and date in China, though the COVID-19 outbreak is taking a heavy toll on that country’s box office. water way opened to $57.1 million in the Middle Kingdom; She was hoping to clear $100 million.

Another big challenge: The film’s running time is three hours and 12 minutes, which resulted in reduced running times. (At the same time, it faces almost no competition.)

on the flip side, water way It opened significantly ahead of its $77 million domestic debut symbol picture in December 2009. The blockbuster went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time at the global box office with $2.92 billion in ticket sales, including re-releases. symbol pictureDecember’s performance confirms that December titles can be more about playability than opening volume.

off superhero fare, water way It is among the few Hollywood movies to open north of $100 million since COVID-19 hit. Another is Tom Cruise’s flagship Top: Gun Maverickwhich debuted to $126.7 million earlier this year domestically and is on its way to collecting $1.49 billion worldwide..

water way She has done huge work in Imax and premium screens. Including premium and regular screens, 57 percent of moviegoers watched the movie in 3D, a format Cameron is a big proponent of. The movie is a huge boon for the format – which has fallen precipitously in popularity – and companies like RealD.

IMAX cinemas in 80 markets brought in a whopping $48.8 million out of a worldwide gross of $435 million.

Speaking of the global opening, water way It had the third biggest global launch of the pandemic era. When comparing similar markets, the film’s $301 million international opening had an 82 percent pre-opening score. Top Gun: Maverick42 percent advanced Jurassic World: Dominion78 percent of symbol picture And only 24 percent behind Spider-Man: No way home.

Cameron produced water way alongside his longtime Lightstorm partner Jon Landau. The film stars Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, and once again focuses on Sully and Saldana’s Navi character, Neytiri. The film picks up a decade after the original and follows their family, with additional stars including franchise newcomer Kate Winslet.

in north america, water way It aroused interest in all age groups but deviated from males (57 per cent).