Newly released movie “Avatar: The Way of Water” fell short of analysts’ expectations in its opening weekend, earning $134 million U.S. at the North American box office.
Industry observers had forecast a $175 million U.S. opening weekend for the James Cameron directed movie. Cameron has said that his sequel to 2009’s Avatar needs to earn $2 billion U.S. globally just to break even.
The Avatar sequel’s opening weekend ties it with “The Batman,” which also opened to $134 million U.S., as the fifth-highest opening of 2022, according to data from Comscore.
However, while it underperformed in the U.S. and Canada, “Avatar: The Way of Water” earned $300 million U.S. internationally, bringing its worldwide opening weekend gross to $434.5 million U.S.
China accounted for $57.1 million U.S. in ticket sales for the new film’s three-day opening weekend.
The Chinese box office contributed around $265 million U.S. to the original “Avatar’s” global haul, but that market has grown significantly in recent years. In 2009, China’s overall box office reached $910 million U.S. In 2021, it totaled $8 billion U.S.
The original “Avatar” earned only $77 million U.S. during its opening weekend but went on to become the highest grossing film of all time. A title it still retains.
