The Happy Scrapper

New longer-term Avatar: The Way of Water opening weekend projections for the box office have the sequel nearly double the first film of James Cameron. The original 2009 sci-fi film broke all sorts of box office records along its way to becoming the most-grossing film of all time. Avatar’s phenomenal box-office success has in turn attracted a lot of attention to the amount Avatar 2 will make. While no one can predict Avatar 2 to topple Avatar’s $2.9 billion worldwide haul and the film’s massive budget and Disney’s investment in the future of the franchise mean that there is some pressure to Avatar: The Way of Water to do well.

According to new long-range tracking provided through Box Office Pro, Avatar: The Way of Water is now projected to make an estimated $135 million on its opening weekend domestically. The original Avatar’s box office debut had a $77 million opening domestically in December. So these projections are calling for Avatar 2’s first weekend at the box office to almost double the initial. The projections also recommend that the sequel make $475M domestically by the end the theatrical release, this is lower than earlier estimates and roughly half of the amount Avatar made domestically.

A strong opening weekend for Avatar: The Way of Water would be a great beginning for the sequel’s success on the screen. The $135 million opening estimate would ensure that the sequel can earn within a single weekend what it took James Cameron’s first film a full week to make. But, Avatar 2’s box office isn’t going to be able to find a way to beat the first. The secret to Avatar’s remarkable box office run is the movie’s remarkable word of mouth and repeat viewings that helped keep the movie relevant and running in theaters for 234 consecutive days. This isn’t commonplace even for the most popular movies. For Avatar: The Way Of Water Review , Top Gun: Maverick was the highest-rated film of 161 days in the year.

There’s little doubt that Avatar: The Way of Water will be able to surpass the original film, however, it doesn’t have to become the most-grossing production ever in order to be a hit. The anticipation for the sequel has mostly quelled the argument that Avatar didn’t leave a lasting impression on people in general. Even it’s case that the sequel’s box-office is half as much as the first film but it still makes $1.3 billion which would make the Avatar 2’s billion-dollar box office a massive success. It’s enough to make it the second highest-grossing movie in 2022.

There is still some pressure on the Avatar 2 box-office to be successful enough for James Cameron to continue his sequel plans alive. Cameron is slated to create three sequels which will include Avatar 3 already completely filmed. A few scenes are also being worked to make Avatar 4. However, the director has admitted that if the sequel’s box office disappoints and indicates audiences are not keen, Avatar 3 could be the final installment in the series. In this way, Avatar The Water’s box office will play a huge impact on what happens next for James Cameron’s movies.