Maverick filmmaker James Cameron’s next directorial ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is all set to arrive in theatres thirteen years after his last film – its path breaking prequel ‘Avatar’. There is no doubt among film enthusiasts that ‘Avatar 2’ is going to break new grounds in terms of visual effects and technological breakthroughs in cinema. The expectations are massive.
But, like all big-ticket films, with great expectations, comes great responsibilities. The responsibility to first break-even and then earn a handsome profit to enable the unhindered development of further ‘Avatar’ sequels.
In a recent interview, James Cameron has himself stated that ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ would have to become the third or fourth highest grossing film ever in order to be profitable. So, keeping into account James Cameron’s statement, let’s analyze what are the sequel’s chances to break even and to be profitable.
For ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ to be profitable and/or to break-even, the film will have to surpass the box-office collections of some Hollywood box-office biggies. The list includes ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ ($2.05 billion gross), ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ ($1.9 billion gross), ‘Jurassic World’ ($1.67 billion gross), ‘The Lion King’ ($1.66 billion gross), and ‘Avengers’ ($1.5 billion gross).
So, it should be safe to assume that in case ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ crosses the formidable $2 billion mark globally, the film would be in a good position to earn profits and to develop further sequels confidently.
As per current industry estimates, ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is expected to open in the range of $150 million to $175 million in the US. If we compare this figure with the first film ‘Avatar’ (2009), that film opened with an impressive $77 million with a lifetime gross of a whopping $2.92 billion. Although ‘Avatar’ had the ‘novelty factor’ advantage back then and it was the first sneak-peek into the visually opulent world of Pandora. Please note that ‘Avatar’ is still the highest grossing movie ever in the history of cinema!
Having said that, with the opening estimates for ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ being more than double than that of its predecessor, there is a good chance that the sequel should cross the $2 billion mark at the international box office. Despite the post-pandemic situation. If ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ can do it, then why can’t James Cameron’s ‘Avatar 2’? Verdict will be out on and after the film releases in theatres on 16th December.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ New Trailer:
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