The anticipated follow-up early tracking indicates that Avatar: The Way of Water, which will arrive in North American theaters on December 16, should debut for at least $150 million to $170 million. These estimates are conservative.
The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron, opens more than 13 years after Avatar made history by being the most successful movie ever worldwide, a title it still holds today with more than $2.92 billion in ticket sales, counting re-releases and without accounting for inflation. This total also includes $785.2 million in domestic revenue.
Over the Dec. 18–20 weekend in 2009, Cameron‘s revolutionary film debuted at a $77 million domestic box office and thereafter achieved remarkable worldwide success.
Avatar 2 aspires to join the exclusive club of lengthier Hollywood tentpoles that have had box-office success in cinemas, such as Titanic and Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame. The two movies come in at No. 2 and 3, respectively, on Comscore’s ranking of the best-grossing films of all time at the global box office, behind only Avatar.
To prepare viewers for the sequel, Disney and 20th Century released a remastered version of the first Avatar in September of this year. The film’s current worldwide box office earnings are more than $2.92 billion thanks to the rerelease, which brought in an astonishing $76 million extra.
Sully, played by Worthington, and Neytiri, a Na’vi woman, are once again at the core of The Way of Water. Following their family, it picks up ten years after the first movie and stars Vin Diesel and Kate Winslet, newbies to the franchise.
Disney announced Tuesday night that The Way of Water has won a coveted China release on December 16. The announcement also came on tracking on Wednesday morning.
