According to predictions by The Hollywood Reporter, part 2 Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to bring in the “biggest” opening in the post-COVID-19 era.
Specifically, this newspaper predicts that director James Cameron’s blockbuster will bring in about $150-175 million in the US domestic market and $450-550 million at the international box office after 3 days of release. Not stopping there, THR predicts that the film’s opening revenue may increase by another 100 million USD due to the release schedule in the large Chinese market.
In fact, before that, experts also said that the film will have a high opening. However, initially, the film was said to have the ability to bring in $ 135 million after opening in the US. After the film received a “rain” of praise in its early premiere, critics believed the film could rake in even more “huge” grosses.
It can be said that this is an ambitious revenue level, especially in the current post-COVID-19 era. However, with a long-awaited blockbuster after 13 long years, Avatar 2 can completely smash every movie theater around the world and be the super product of 2022.
If Avatar: The Way of Water can’t deliver the desired returns from this huge budget, the future of the sequels James Cameron has written may be in jeopardy. However, with the praise so far, it seems that the film is completely worth the investment that the whole crew has spent.
While openings are also very important, in fact, Disney has stated that they want Avatar 2 to be able to “run the long haul”, delivering a steady revenue in the following weeks after release. Top Gun: Maverick is the most recent example of the importance of high ratings as well as word of mouth from moviegoers. The film then had a deemed success.
Critics are currently praising Avatar 2, and now the rest of the movie’s success depends on audiences around the world. Previously, director James Cameron surprised the audience when he announced that he would stop the Avatar series if part 2 was not supported. However, he still affirmed that the new film can completely bring the audience a different experience when watching movies in cinemas. The problem that James Cameron is worried about is, how many people really care about this “out-of-the-theater experience”.