Past performances show that the ‘Avatar’ franchise’s movies tend to pick up late but excel at the overall box office|@officialavatar|X
Disney’s Avatar: Fire and Ash debuted with a domestic haul of $88 million, missing analyst projections of $110 million to $125 million, and facing lesser ticket sales at the box office compared to its predecessor.
In 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water drew 8.7 million domestic viewers in its first three days. The new movie saw a sharp decline to 5.2 million moviegoers.
Analysts attribute the cooler reception to the film’s 3-hour, 15-minute runtime and its limited technological innovation.
It remains bolstered by premium formats, as 3D and IMAX screenings accounted for 66% of the weekend total. The film has added $257 million internationally, bringing its global opening to $345 million. Disney is looking to international audiences to sustain the film’s long-term trajectory.
Past performances show that the franchise’s movies tend to pick up late but excel at the box office overall.
Director James Cameron’s first film in the series opened at just $77 million in 2009 before becoming the highest-grossing film of all time at $2.9 billion.
Similarly, the second installment opened at $134 million and eventually grossed $2.3 billion globally.
Disney is hopeful the same magic repeats for the third movie. Its recent Zootopia 2 crossed the $1 billion mark this month.
Notably, out of the five top-grossing movies of all time, three (Titanic, Avatar, and Avatar: The Way of Water) were directed by Cameron.