Thirteen years had to pass for James Cameron to bring out the long-awaited sequel to Avatar. Curiously, that is the number it occupies, at this moment, Avatar and the Way of Water is on the list of the highest grossing films in the history of cinema. First on the list? Indeed, the original film that introduced us to the Na'vi. Followed by Avengers: Endgame. In third place is another of Cameron's most iconic titles, Titanic, which turns 25 this year.
However, if everything continues as it is, both could soon be surpassed by this new feature film set in Pandora. Avatar and the Way of Water's box office performance started off weak but is within striking distance of catching up in gross numbers to what is currently the highest-grossing film of 2022, also another sequel: Top Gun Maverick ended its theatrical run by earning a not inconsiderable $1,488,732,821 worldwide. Pending an update with box office on Tuesday, January 3, Cameron's sequel grossed $1,443,938,691 worldwide.
The domestic market recovers
What worried James Cameron most at the start of Avatar's box-office run was the poor results the three-hour-plus film was getting in domestic theaters. During its first weekend, it only managed to gross 134 million domestically. The second weekend did not fare any better and, in fact, its gross dropped to $56 million.
However, the holiday season gave Pandora's inhabitants a respite. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the third weekend, which coincided with the New Year's holiday weekend and was extended by an extra day due to the bank holiday Monday, grossed $86.3 million domestically. This is not a similar figure to the one obtained on the first weekend, but it is considerably higher than the one obtained seven days earlier.
In addition, the $87 million helped it achieve a milestone against the original feature film, also directed by James Cameron. Avatar and the Way of Water was not only the nation's most popular title to see in theaters over the holiday season, but it managed to gross more than the original did thirteen years earlier.
In this way, Avatar and the Way of Water obtained, as of January 2, 2023, an estimated 444.4 million in the domestic market, a figure well in excess of the 352 million that the original Avatar achieved during the 2009 Christmas season.
