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Avatar: The Way of Water is tracking ahead of the original 2009 Avatar in its sixth weekend at the domestic box office, though it’s slowing down.
Avatar: The Way of Water is in week 6 of its record-breaking box office run and still tracking ahead of the original 2009 Avatar. The decade-later sequel, which sees returning director James Cameron helming a cast that includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, and Kate Winslet, arrived in theaters on December 16, 2022. It follows the continued adventures of the Sully family, which now includes three biological children and two adopted – the Na’vi-human hybrid Kiri (Weaver) and the human refugee Spider (Jack Champion). The film opened under expectations, but nevertheless showed a strong hold over the box office, quickly ballooning to over $1.5 billion worldwide.
Per Variety, this weekend will see Avatar: The Way of Water‘s box office run continue its hold at No. 1 in the domestic box office, trouncing the new wide release thriller Missing, which is projected to debut at No. 3 or No. 4. Avatar: The Way of Water‘s box office take this weekend should land at around $600 million by Friday, on the verge of pushing Incredibles 2 from the No. 12 spot on the domestic all-time chart. It is also tracking ahead of where the original Avatar was at this point in its run, though its week-on-week drops are more substantial than the previous film’s, meaning it could fall behind before too long.
Despite Its Success, Avatar: The Way of Water Still Isn’t in the Domestic Top 10
Avatar: The Way of Water is an enormous success, anyway it’s sliced. It has already become the highest-grossing movie of the pandemic era, knocking Spider-Man: No Way Home from its record-breaking perch, which also makes it the sixth highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. However, that is largely due to its international box office, as it currently only stands at No. 13 on the all-time domestic chart behind Incredibles 2 ($608.6 million), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi ($620.2 million), and The Avengers ($623.3 million).
While it seems entirely likely that it will enter the domestic top 10 within the next two weeks, the belated Avatar sequel has quite a way to go if it wants to enter the Top 5, even as it easily climbs the worldwide chart. Currently, the Top 5 is dominated by Top Gun: Maverick ($718.7 million), Avatar ($785.2 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1 million), Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 million), and Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens ($936.7 million). To even join this group, the film will have to clear another $115 million or so, which may be difficult as it loses steam in the domestic realm.
Considering the fact that the original Avatar (which is still the No. 1 film worldwide) only holds the No. 4 slot, it would likely take a huge boost for Avatar: The Way of Water to be able to overtake Spider-Man: No Way Home and enter the Top 3 before the end of its theatrical run. It has an easy path to a few more No. 1 weekends through the end of the month and the beginning of February, which could certainly help. However, once Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, it will finally face some stiff competition from another huge studio tentpole, likely sinking it relatively quickly on the domestic front.
Source: Variety
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