Director James Cameron receives the strongest opening weekend of his career with Avatar: The Way of Water, exceeding the initial reception of the 2009 original.
Avatar: The Way of Water has already won a significant honor for director James Cameron, providing a welcome boost to lackluster box office numbers.
Cameron’s all-time best bow, the $77 million initially made by 2009’s original Avatar, has been eclipsed, despite the long-awaited sequel’s opening weekend revenue not being completed at the time of publication. In fact, according to the most recent data from Exhibitor Relations, The Way of Water earned $134 million domestically, which is nearly twice as much as Cameron’s previous high. Media analyst Paul Dergarabedian’s chart visually illustrates how far the sequel surpasses the opening weekends of Cameron’s most iconic works, including the $31.7 million earned by Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the $28.6 million earned by Titanic, which helped to highlight the momentous move further.
Despite its record-breaking success, it is still unclear whether the maritime-themed The Way of Water will ultimately surpass its 2009 predecessor. After all, Avatar went on to earn $2.9 billion, making it the most successful movie ever globally. Contextually, the $134 million (as it stands) only ties The Batman for the fifth position in 2022 with the weekend riptide of the sequel. The movie is on track to surpass the $1 billion mark by New Year’s Day, despite predictions that Cameron’s blockbusters often work in marathons rather than sprints.
Early Dominance of Avatar: The Way of Water’s
This is not the first good omen for the Avatar sequel, which also generated a $53 million Friday first-day gross, surpassing the $27 million brought in by the original movie. That sum came after a strong $17 million domestic take on Thursday’s preview night. Additionally, with Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a poorly advertised Shrek spinoff sequel, as The Way of Water’s sole substantial early rival, the board will effectively be free to achieve its anticipated benchmarks. It also lends credence to the sequel’s record-breaking hopes since 57% of ticket sales are apparently from more expensive 3D tickets (and not for nothing, inflated costs).
Fans who long believed the hype about glasses-free 3D may be dismayed to learn that spectacles are necessary for the experience, particularly given the extradimensional offering of the movie. Producer Jon Landau recently made this admission, saying frankly, “We are not working on it.” As he described the scrapped idea, “Glasses are an essential component of the beach experience. My experience at the movies is changed if I use these glasses. Because of it, my time at the theatre will be improved.”
In any case, the sequel follows the Na’vi-body-swapped former human Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who have begun a family in the years since the first movie, and transports viewers back to the lush landscapes — and now seascapes — of the planet Pandora. Unfortunately, a fresh danger and some long-gone foes have a vengeful scheme to upend that familial unity.
