Avatar: The Way of Water
Courtesy: Disney Co.
Disney and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water grossed an estimated $56 million in its second weekend in theaters, down 58% from its debut.
Declining box office sales are common for blockbuster titles, with most seeing a 50% to 70% drop. This metric, referred to as the second-week drop, is often used as an indicator of whether a movie can have longevity at the box office, or if it might fade away quickly.
Movies that drop lower than 50% are expected to have solid future runs, while those who hit 70% are more likely to see ticket sales proceed to plummet as the movie fades out of the public eye.
“Avatar: The Way of Water’s second weekend drop puts it exactly where it must be, as this performance will set the tone for the film’s ongoing box office journey,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Box office analysts noted that the cold winter and storms over the holiday weekend likely led to a slowdown in ticket sales in the country.
As well as, international ticket sales proceed to grow. Markets outside the US and Canada fell 43.9% in the second week. It has at all times been expected that “Waterway” will generate at least 70% of box office receipts from abroad, and it is at this stage that the breakdown is presented on Sunday.
The Way of Water has generated $855 million in box office sales worldwide since its December 16 release – $254 million domestically and $601 million internationally. It is currently the fifth highest-grossing film released in 2022.
the most vital and Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” is the current leader with $1.48 billion worldwide, followed by Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion ($1 billion), Disney/Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($952 million) and Universal/Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru ($939 million).
The Way of Water’s haul is lower than half of what Cameron says the film must generate with a view to be considered profitable. Despite a waning word of mouth that focused on stunning visuals blown away by a bland plot, the ‘Avatar’ sequel takes hold at the box office.
The next big blockbuster – Disney and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” – won’t hit theaters until February 17, leaving “The Way of Water” a protracted run at the box office without strong competition.
“January has no direct competition with the film,” said Shawn Robbins, principal analyst at BoxOffice.com. “Then the sequel to Avatar could make up for any perceived losses towards meeting long-term expectations, should that occur.”
“We live in a world where the desire for immediate gratification results in early scores getting used as the ultimate barometer of a movie’s success,” he said. “Realistically, sometimes it is sensible, but sometimes it doesn’t. This is one of the last situations.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of Jurassic World: Dominion and Minions: The Rise of Gru.