Ticket sales for the Walt Disney Co Avatar: The Way of Water has reached the $1.52 billion mark, making it the biggest film released in 2022.
The sci-fi epic, directed by James Cameron, earned $33.8 million worldwide on Wednesday, according to estimates from Disney.
The results put the film ahead of Paramount Global Top Gun: Maverick, The Tom Cruise-acted picture has generated close to $1.49 billion in ticket sales since its debut in May. This includes a two-week re-release in theaters in December. Maverick gets less than half of its sales from overseas – and has never opened in China – while the Avatar 69% international count, with China it only made $169 million.
Water wayIt took some time to justify Disney’s vision in Burbank, California for the Avatar franchise, which includes sequels every two years until 2028. Disney acquired the rights to Avatar as part of its $71 billion purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019.
Cameron is the original Avatar, released in 2009, is the biggest film of all time with $2.9 billion in sales. Like the picture, Water way started strong but not spectacularly, before gaining steam over the coming weeks. Over the four-day week between Christmas and New Year’s, the film grossed about $300 million, more than most pictures make in a year.
The softening economy and the three-hour-plus length of the film have delayed many people from seeing it immediately after its release on December 16, according to Kevin Near, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
“I really suspect there is a large chunk of consumers out there who are just trying to make it for Christmas before taking the family out to see it,” he said.
Now, the test will be what it is Water way can continue to generate sales like this with consumers back to work and students back to school. The film benefits from a film release schedule with little competition, said Barton Crockett, an analyst with Rosenblatt Securities. These box office numbers should allow the picture to be profitable for Disney, despite the high production costs.
“My bet is that the movie can make money at this point,” Crockett said.
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