Avatar 2 Is Huge Success With $134 Million Domestic Debut
It’s been nearly a decade since the original Avatar graced the big screen, and the sequel didn’t disappoint, if its revenue at the domestic box office is any indication.
According to PEOPLE, Avatar: The Way of Water brought in a whopping $134 million domestically. It did even better on an international scale, bringing in $301 million. In total, the movie grossed $435 million on its opening weekend alone.
While the first Avatar was successful, even it didn’t see such high numbers at the box office when it debuted in 2009.
The film, which is directed by James Cameron, brought in $77 million domestically during its opening weekend. It went on to secure $750 million domestically, and an impressive $2.7 billion across the globe, making it one of the most successful movies of all time.
Its sequel appears on track to beat that record. However, while the opening weekend brought in high numbers, it wasn’t as much as expected.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, estimates suggested the film would gross between $150 million to $175 million domestically in its opening weekend, and between $450 million to $550 million internationally.
There’s a reason the film was expected to take in huge profits – and not just because the sequel has been highly anticipated. Avatar: The Way of Water is one of the most expensive movies to ever be made. It cost over $250 million.
When asked about how expensive the movie was, James Cameron replied, “You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.”
Even though the Avatar sequel was infamously expensive and time-consuming to make, the director said he liked the challenge.
“I like difficult,” James explained. “I’m attracted by difficult. Difficult is a fucking magnet for me. I go straight to difficult. And I think it probably goes back to this idea that there are lots of smart, really gifted, really talented filmmakers out there that just can’t do the difficult stuff. So that gives me a tactical edge to do something nobody else has ever seen, because the really gifted people don’t fucking want to do it.”
Avatar: The Way of the Water may have taken $250 million to make, but the first one had a similar budget, at $237 million. James Cameron has already confirmed an Avatar 3 is on its way, and it’ll likely have just as big of a budget.
Sources: PEOPLE, Hollywood Reporter, GQ,
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