‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Has to Become the 5th Grossing Film of All Time to Break Even
Making Avatar: The Way of Water was an expensive endeavor, which means its box office numbers have to be in the billions.
Before we jump into the numbers, there’s a new trailer. It gives a bit more about the plot but is all about the movie’s beautiful visuals. Avatar: The Way of Water continues the themes of the first movie while expanding the world of Pandora. The story picks up ten years after the first movie and follows Sully’s family as they have to find a new home after the Tree of Souls has been burned to ash. The Na’vi continue to battle with the colonizers who are still mining Pandora for its resources – destroying more territory and lives as they go.
Budget vs. Potential
There’s less than a month till the long-awaited sequel hits screens, and there’s a bit of a worry about its financial success.
When Avatar came out in 2009, it was a shock to the system. The story by director James Cameron is meh (Ferngully meets Dances With Wolves), but it didn’t matter; the tech was the real star. It was amazing to watch, and the mocap set a new benchmark. A benchmark we’ve passed a couple of times over. Beautiful CG is something we see a lot of. IMAX and 3D are no longer exotic formats. The movie will have to rely on its story’s merits more this time and hope its visuals are enough to convince folks to go to theaters multiple times.
via 20th Century Studios
Reports are saying that Avatar: The Way of Water will need to earn $2 billion at the box office to turn a profit, which would put it in the 5th top-grossing movie of all time. There’s not a public number out there for how big the budget is, but James Cameron told GQ it was “very fucking [expensive]” to create. 20th Century Studios is making a costly gamble that may end up biting them in the ass.
Cameron has a lot of confidence in his movie (of course he does, he’s James Cameron)…
“I said something I’ve never said to anybody else in the business. I think this movie is going to make all the fucking money. And when it does, it’s going to be too late for you to love the film. The time for you to love the movie is today. So I’m not asking you to say something that you don’t feel, but know that I will always know that no matter how complimentary you are about the movie in the future when it makes all the money.”
The trailers have shown it has potential but is it $2 billion potential? Unlike its director, I’m not so sure – especially in the post-pandemic climate when Marvel action and CG fests routinely aren’t breaking $800 million at the box office. It also has a run time of 3 hours and 10 minutes which isn’t going to help. We’ll have to see how this turns out next month.
via 20th Century Studios
Avatar: The Way Of Water Details
James Cameron is back in the director’s chair. Original cast members include Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. Also returning are Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver. New additions Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, and Vin Diesel will join them.
“Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way Of Water begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.”
Avatar: The Way of Water arrives in theaters on December 16. Tickets are on sale now.
