Since its December 15 release, James Cameron's anticipated sequel Avatar: The Way of Water has been a force to reckon with. It set the tone for its box office presence by delivering an impressive $435 million opening weekend at the global box office. Early predictions also had the film poised to take the lead at the Christmas box office in an unchallenged holiday theatrical run. Keeping the wins coming, Variety has revealed that The Way of Water has crossed $855.4 million at the global box office.
Locally, Avatar: The Way of Water brought in $56 million from 4,202 theaters in its second weekend. The film's domestic box office faced challenges as extreme weather conditions affected cinema turnout over the Christmas weekend. Its $56 million return marks a 58% drop from its domestic debut performance. By comparison, this year's other highly anticipated sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which is currently still in theaters, posted a 63% drop at the domestic box office for its second weekend. Current predictions believe Avatar: The Way of Water will hit $82 million through Monday, for its second-weekend tally, which will bring its domestic total to $278 million.
Internationally, The Way of Water has earned $601 million. While crossing the $600 million mark is a significant achievement for any film, the sequel has not performed as spectacularly as expected after securing the widely coveted and oft-unattainable Chinese release. Despite the anticipation for the film in the country, China is currently facing a new wave of COVID cases, leading to theater closures, thereby turnout, significantly affecting the weighty haul Avatar 2 was expected to make in the Chinese market. However, it is not doing too badly for itself as its $855.4 million global tally makes it the fifth highest-grossing film of 2022. It is also expected to cross the $1 billion mark by the end of the year. With that feat, it would join the ranks of Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion, the only other two films that have managed to cross $1 billion this year.
The sequel, which was 13 years in the making, has a gigantic task ahead of it as its iconic predecessor, 2009's Avatar, currently sits pretty as the highest-grossing film of all time with over $2.9 billion at the box office. The Way of Water has to come close to Avatar's lifetime total to be considered a successful endeavor; as Cameron notes, it has "to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history" to break even. What's important to note is that Avatar achieved its milestone box office total with multiple re-releases over the years, including one earlier this year, which helped the film hit that $2.9 billion mark.
Avatar: The Way of Water featured an exciting return to Pandora as well as the return of Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, and Sigourney Weaver alongside the arrival of Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, CCH Pounder, Jermaine Clement, Britain Dalton, James Flatters, Bailey Bass, Jack Champion, and more. The star-studded affair, as well as Cameron's return to the director's chair, added to the significant anticipation for the sequel. With its box office haul and positive reviews, it is safe to say The Way of Water delivered on its promise of spectacle and box office dominance.
Avatar: The Way of Water is currently in theaters. Check out Collider's interview with Worthington, Lang, and producer Jon Landau below: