20th Century Studios
- Avatar: The Way of Water took more at the box office in its first 10 days than the original film.
- On its opening weekend, the sequel failed to live up to studio expectations for ticket sales.
- The $253 million box office take suggests the film will maintain momentum into the new year.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” remained at the top of the box office after its second weekend in theaters.
James Cameron’s film has now taken $253.7 million in the United States in its first 10 days of release, despite missing studio expectations on its opening weekend, according to Comscore figures reported by The Associated Press.
“Avatar” made $212.7 million in its first 10 days in 2009 and went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, taking more than $2.9 billion.
The sequel is estimated to have made $56 million in North America over the weekend, compared with $134 million on the opening weekend – lower than the $150 million to $175 million projections.
Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for Comscore, told The AP: “This is James Cameron’s first $100 million opener. For this movie to have opened that big and only dropped 58%, it shows it has staying power.”
“The Way of Water” is already the third highest-grossing film worldwide this year, according to Comscore figures, bringing in $855 million and behind “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World Dominion.”
The film reportedly cost $350 million and Cameron suggested it would need to make more than $2 billion to break even given marketing costs, according to Variety.
Disney took control of the rights to “Avatar” with its $71 billion acquisition of Fox in 2019.
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by Insider.
