‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Review: James Cameron’s Sequel Is Blockbuster Filmmaking At Its Biggest & Best

It was another $20M day for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, so big that it was the biggest regular box office Thursday of the year after the sequel’s Dec. 22 take of $14.6M and Top Gun: Maverick‘s June 2 gross. The movie’s running total is $358M stateside with a 3-day expected to be around $50M and will cross the $400M threshold on New Year’s Day per box office sources. New Year’s Eve Saturday isn’t expected to be as depressed as Christmas Eve was a week ago.

After two weeks in theaters, James Cameron‘s “Avatar: The Way Of Water” passed $1.1 billion at the global box office. A strong start, but will it reach Cameron’s desired gross of matching or surpassing the 2009 film’s 2.923 billion gross? Only time will tell.

After earning the highest grossing Tuesday of 2022 with $24.1M, 20th Century Studios/Disney/Lightstorm’s Avatar: The Way of Water also notched the best Wednesday of the year yesterday with $20.4M beating Top Gun: Maverick‘s June 1 take of $14.8M, and Avatar 2‘s first Wednesday of $14.4M. At a running total of $337.9M through 13 days, the James Cameron directed, Jon Landau produced sequel is pacing 1% ahead of Top Gun: Maverick at the same point in time.

When you think of a classic James Cameron action film, such as “Terminator,” “T2: Judgment Day,” “True Lies,” and definitely “Aliens,” you think about huge, violent action set pieces with lots and lots of guns. Today, Cameron is a different type of filmmaker, especially when it comes to gun violence, and he’s not sure if he could ever go back to the type of action he did previously.

It’s no secret that James Cameron wants the world of Pandora in his “Avatar” franchise to look as realistic as possible. But it’s not all about digital verisimilitude for the director; it’s a practical feature in casting, too.

“Avatar: The Way Of Water” is now in theaters, and only time will tell if it’s another massive financial success for James Cameron. It’s off to a good start, in any case: $550 million at the global box office so far.

As Avatar: The Way of Water continues to blow up worldwide, James Cameron has indicated he’s game-planning far into the future.

As Avatar: The Way of Water continues to blow up worldwide, James Cameron has indicated he’s game-planning far into the future.

James Cameron’s epic “Avatar: The Way Of Water” film is in theaters now, and it grossed $430 million this weekend globally—the second-highest global opening of 2022 after “Doctor Strange And The Multiverse of Madness.” There’s been talk that this is a low figure, or disappointing or whatever—to be fair, the film was tracking to anywhere as high as $170 million domestic, and the film only grossed $134 million in North America, which is a bit soft—one has to remember the context of a lot of December releases which tend to have a slow build.

EXCLUSIVE: Buttressing the $441.6M global opening of Avatar: The Way of Water this past weekend –the 11th best ever– is a curated promo partner campaign assembled by Disney; a lineup that reflects the eco-friendly and technologically advanced sensibilities of the James Cameron directed epic.

James Cameron likes his female heroines as strong and capable as possible. For instance, take Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley in “Aliens” or Linda Hamilton‘s Sarah Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” But according to Cameron, Kate Winslet‘s Ronal in “Avatar: The Way Of Water” is the director’s most “empowering” female action hero yet.

James Cameron likes his female heroines as strong and capable as possible. For instance, take Sigourney Weaver‘s Ellen Ripley in “Aliens” or Linda Hamilton‘s Sarah Connor in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” But according to Cameron, Kate Winslet‘s Ronal in “Avatar: The Way Of Water” is the director’s most “empowering” female action hero yet.

As “Avatar: The Way Of Water‘ hits theaters everywhere tomorrow, questions about the long-awaited sequel abound. Will the film be another massive cash cow for Jim Cameron? Does the “Avatar” franchise have any cultural caché after thirteen years between the first and second movies? Will Cameron make all five films he has mapped out for the series? It all hinges on how “The Way Of Water” does at the box office this weekend.

When it was announced that Tim Miller and James Cameron were going to team up to wipe the slate clean with the “Terminator” franchise and present the real sequel to “T2,” fans were elated. Finally, we’d be getting a quality “Terminator” film after all of these years.

James Cameron always swings for the fences — no singles, doubles, triples or even stealing home for him — and he’s hit a grand slam with the long-awaited Avatar: The Way of Water. This second installment in a five-film series of Avatar features from 20th Century Studios/Disney (with three more to open at two-year intervals through 2028) more than fulfills the promise of the original, which was released in 2009, before some of its fans were even born. The film is beautiful, obsessive and eventful, a depiction of a veritable Eden threatened by voraciously destructive forces both natural and man-made. No one who enthused over the original would think of missing this follow-up, which ups the ante for all that is to come, creatively and financially.

Zoe Saldana is clarifying her comments regarding feeling “stuck” in movie franchises like Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Trek.

The King of the World won’t be at the L.A. premiere tonight for Avatar: The Way of Water after testing positive for Covid.