Avatar: The Way of the Water didn't make as much of a splash as many thought, but James Cameron's big-budget blockbuster still earned $134 million in North American theaters and $300.5 million internationally for a $434.5 million worldwide debut..
It equaled The Batman as the fourth-highest domestic debut of the year behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4 million).. in May), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181 million. in November) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($144.2 million. in July).
High hopes were placed on Avatar 2 with a price tag of over US$350 million, the responsibility of continuing the highest-grossing film of all time (thanks in part to various re-releases) over a decade later, and the daunting task of supporting an exhibition business that is still. However, everything about Avatar is epic: the Na'vi characters, the film's running time (a mind-boggling three hours and 12 minutes), the technical advances, and the release strategy from 20th Century Studios and The Walt Disney Co..
The film opened internationally on Wednesday and debuted in North America on Thursday night.. Domestically, Avatar: The Path of Water was released in 4,202 theaters on over 12,000 screens, 400 of which are IMAX 3D. The studio and filmmakers have bet big on the attractiveness and higher prices of 3D and premium large screens.
By the end of Friday, " This figure surpassed the first day of " ) in 2009, although it did not include Thursday previews.
As with many of Cameron's ambitious projects, from Titanic to the first Avatar, nerves were on edge for the costly sequel, one of the most expensive films of all time, which began filming five years ago.. It has faced repeated delays and survived The Walt Disney Co's acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.. It's also one of four Avatar sequels that Cameron has in mind..
Filming of the third film, which was filmed simultaneously with "
In the 13 years since the first film was released, Avatar has also become the butt of jokes for being the biggest film of all time, grossing almost $3 billion, leaving a relatively small footprint in culture.. But even so, critics generally praised The Way of the Water, not only for the visuals, but also for improving the story of the first film.. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 78% positive rating from critics..
Avatar: The Way of Water has the advantage of a holiday corridor that relatively speaking lacks major blockbuster-style films. Damien Chazelle's Babylon and family film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish debut next week.
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