Avatar: The Way of Water is continuing its march through the upper reaches of the all-time takings charts as it becomes the sixth film to break the $2bn mark in worldwide box-office receipts.
The returns are great news for the film and cinema industries, proving that people will open their wallets to see movies in person.
It’s even better news for director James Cameron, who is now the brightest star in Hollywood.
As the Avatar sequel blows past the $2 billion mark, it also surpassed the returns for Spider-Man: No Way Home and Jurassic World on the list of highest grossing films.
As of Sunday, Jan. 22, Cameron has now directed three of the top six grossing films of all time, but analysis from the industry publication ScreenRant indicates Way of Water will overtake both Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and will eventually place fourth.
If that happens, Cameron will have directed three of the top four grossing films in the world.
Let’s break it down by the numbers.
On Sunday, January 22, the Avatar sequel hit $2.04 billion in box receipts, placing sixth. Analysts at ScreenRant and Deadline, among others, believe the film will reach $2.4 billion by the end of January, placing it third in this order:
- Avatar $2.9 billion
- Avengers: End Game $2.8 billion
- Avatar: Way of Water (predicted $2.4 to $2.6 billion)
- Titanic $2.2 billion
ScreenRant writer Stephen M. Colbert (yes, that is his real name) predicts the film still has room to grow, and will eventually hit at least $2.6 billion globally, and potentially could reach as high as $3.5 billion, which would make it the top grossing film of all time.
“Avatar: The Way of Water‘s box office run isn’t showing any signs of stopping, but according to our calculations, it’ll bring in at least $2.6 billion at the global box office before it finishes its theatrical run,” said Colbert. “The original Avatar has been the #1 ranked movie at the box office for more than a decade, so it makes sense that Avatar: The Way of Water would also be a big hit despite a number of doubts about its viability as a 13-year belated sequel.
“However, its performance so far has already proved the doubters wrong.”
One thing that Avatar’s sequel has going for it is very strong performance in global markets. Top Gun: Maverick was the year’s top grossing film domestically, earning $718.7 million, but that film did not air in China. Way of Water, on the other hand, was the number one film in China for five weeks and the biggest Hollywood release in India of all time.
Colbert also says the film’s ‘rate of decay’, or the rate at which weekly box office returns are shrinking over time, shows the film could potentially become the top grossing film of all time, earning up to $3.5 billion.
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