‘Avatar’ Sequel Continues To Dominate As It Edges Towards $2 Billion Worldwide Earnings

Updated Jan 15, 2023, 01:26pm EST

Topline

Avatar: The Way Of Water led the domestic box office charts for the fifth consecutive weekend, earning an estimated $38.5 million in U.S. sales from Friday to Monday, according to Box Office Mojo, pushing the movie’s worldwide revenue to around $1.9 billion as James Cameron’s sequel to the highest grossing film of all time continues to show strong momentum despite a slower-than-expected-start.

Kate Winslet, as Ronal, left, and Cliff Curtis, as Tonowari, in a scene from “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

20th Century Studios via AP

Key Facts

Disney’s Avatar: The Way Of Water has raked in an estimated total of $570.3 million domestically along with around $1.33 billion in international earnings since it premiered last month, making it the seventh highest-grossing film of all time.

The Avatar sequel’s fifth-week performance means it is now the 13th highest-grossing movie of all time at the U.S. box office, overtaking 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2019’s Lion King remake, according to Box Office Mojo.

While it remains at the same spot as last week in the worldwide all-time rankings, the movie is expected to overtake Spider-Man: No Way Home sometime this week and begin closing in on Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.

Buoyed by positive reviews and a strong opening weekend, Universal’s horror film M3GAN comes in second once again, with U.S. earnings estimated at $21.2 million for the long weekend.

Big Number

$2.92 billion. That is the total worldwide box office earnings of Cameron’s first Avatar film which was released in 2009. That movie still remains the highest-grossing film of all time and its crown is unlikely to be challenged by its sequel.

Key Background

Despite falling short of expectations on its opening weekend at the domestic box office in mid-December, the Avatar sequel has managed to retain strong momentum in both domestic and international ticket sales in subsequent weeks—in a performance that mirrors the original Avatar film. The Way Of Water was a risky bet for Disney as it is one of the most expensive films ever made, and it came out more than a decade after the original prompting some concerns about the relevance of the franchise. While exact numbers are unclear, Cameron has previously stated that Avatar: The Way Of Water needs to earn around $2 billion just to break even. The sequel’s steep budget however includes the cost of filming Avatar 3 and developing the scripts for a fourth and fifth film.