“Avatar: The Way of Water” by Disney and James Cameron made an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in cinemas, a 58% down from its opening.
Blockbuster movies frequently witness a drop in ticket sales, with the majority experiencing a 50% to 70% drop. This statistic, known as the second-week decline, is frequently used as a predictor of how long a movie will last at the box office as opposed to how soon it may lose steam.
While films that reach 70% are likely to have ticket sales continuing to dramatically plummet as the movie slips from the public’s attention, those that fall below 50% are anticipated to have strong, extended runs.
Also read:James Cameron Shots Scenes For Avatar 3 And 4 In Advance To Avoid Stranger Things
According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, “Avatar: The Way of Water’s” second-weekend decrease “puts it squarely in the zone of where it needs to be as this performance will set the tone for the continuing box office trip for the picture.”
Box office observers highlighted that storms over the Christmas holiday and the chilly winter weather probably slowed domestic ticket sales.
Additionally, sales of tickets abroad are still quite strong. For markets outside of the United States and Canada, the second-week decline was 43.9%. It was always anticipated that “The Way of Water” would get at least 70% of its box office revenue from purchases of foreign tickets, and as of Sunday, the split is exactly that.
Since its Dec. 16 release, “The Way of Water” has produced $855 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $254 million from domestic sales and $601 million from overseas markets. It is now the fifth-highest-grossing movie that was released in 2022.
“Top Gun: Maverick” from Paramount and Skydance is now in first place with $1.48 billion globally, followed by Universal’s.
“Jurassic World: Dominion” ($1 billion), “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($952 million) from Disney and Marvel Studios, and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” ($939 million) from Universal and Illumination.
The box office total for “The Way of Water” is currently less than half of what director James Cameron claimed the movie needed to bring in to be deemed viable. The “Avatar” sequel has space to grow at the movie office despite decreasing word of mouth, which has been centered on amazing graphics betrayed by a weak storyline.
Disney and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” the following big release, won’t enter cinemas until February 17; this gives “The Way of Water” a significant window of time at the box office without any opposition.
According to Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com, “January is absent significant direct competition against the picture.” If it’s going to, the Avatar sequel might then catch up on any perceived lost ground in terms of exceeding long-term expectations.
He stated, “We live in a culture where the need for fast pleasure results in early results being cited as the ultimate measure of a film’s success. Realistically, that makes sense sometimes but not always. One of the latter is the case here.
