A deep freeze is hitting the box office right now, but that still won't stop James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water from continuing to make gains and break barriers. Despite a bomb cyclone hitting the Midwest that has temperatures down to dangerously low levels as well as the upcoming Christmas holiday, the sequel is expected to break $200 million domestically by the end of the day in just its eighth day out in theaters. As of Thursday evening, the film sat at $197.5 million.
The first week for the film was about as much of a success as Cameron and company could hope for as it now sits at $661.4 million globally. Domestically, its pace is just 4% behind the first week of Top Gun: Maverick, a feat made even more impressive when considering the times of release. The Tom Cruise sequel was released for Memorial Day weekend, thriving thanks to the extended free time with a domestic number of $205.6 million. The Way of Water will now also join Captain Marvel, Jurassic World: Dominion, and Thor: Love and Thunder as the other films to reach the $200 million mark within that same short eight-day period.
As we head fully into what's expected to be an especially slow weekend thanks to a combination of factors, the long-awaited sequel is still expected to run the show during the holidays. Previously, the film was projected to pick up around $67 million to $80 million, though it's questionable if it'll meet those expectations between the complications of the holiday, bad weather, and football on TV added to the weekend dropoff. It should still stay well ahead of its contenders which include Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Babylon. In the pre-Christmas box office, neither is expecting particularly huge returns with Dreamworks' Antonio Banderas-led offering scoring only $6.1 million across its first two days and Damien Chazelle's ode to old Hollywood hoping to cross double digits in its first four days. Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody is also out, but it's only projected to make around $12 million across four days after raking in $730,000 from Thursday night previews.
Avatar: The Way of Water Has Already Proved Its Worth at the Box Office
Despite the astronomical expectations and the need for a historic box office performance, The Way of Water has somehow managed to deliver on every front, earning high marks from critics and audiences and still raking in the dough. It remains to be seen how its longevity compares to its predecessor and how the film bounces back domestically after a nightmare of a weekend for films at the box office might be a good indicator of that. Even if it fails to reach the same financial heights as Avatar, it has at least reached a point to justify the continuation of the franchise, and it played a pivotal role in pushing Disney above $4 billion at the box office this year.
The Way of Water picks up around a decade after the first film, returning to Pandora to see Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and their new family as they once again fight to protect the planet from invading humans. Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, Matt Gerald, Kate Winslet, Edie Falco, and Jamie Flatters also star among others.
Avatar: The Way of Water can still be seen in theaters, though you might want to wait until the weather clears up. In the meantime, check out an interview Collider's Editor-in-Chief Steve Weintraub conducted with Worthington, Lang, and Jon Landau on the future of the franchise under Cameron and the importance of IMAX and 3D screenings.