‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’ Sailing Past $500M Global Box Office

Refresh for latest…: That was fast. Coming out of its fourth weekend of release, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has topped $1.7B globally and become the No. 7 biggest movie of all time worldwide.

BAFTA has unveiled the longlists across all categories for its 2023 Film Awards, and Martin McDonagh’s tragicomedy The Banshees Of Inisherin and Netflix’s All Quiet on the Western Front lead. Scroll down for the lists in full.

Global box office for 2022 reached nearly $26B, a 27% gain on the previous year, according to Gower Street Analytics. Of the estimated $25.9B total, the international box office represents $18.4B, a 16% increase on last year at current exchange rates, the total being dragged down by China. Stripping out that market, overseas is estimated at $14.1B for a 55% hike on 2021. Domestic was up 65% to $7.5B for a 65% increase, per Gower’s partners at comScore.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has now officially, and as projected, crossed the $1 billion mark at the international box office with Tuesday’s grosses included. What’s more for this 20th Century Studios/Disney juggernaut, at $1,482.5M worldwide through Tuesday, the epic sci-fi sequel is next on its way to yet another milestone and will top $1.5B global when today’s numbers are factored. In doing so, it will become the No. 1 worldwide release of 2022, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick’s $1.489B.

French cinemas amassed nearly 152 million admissions in 2022, new data from the National Cinema Center (CNC) shows. That’s an estimated 26.9% off the pre-pandemic three-year average (2017-2019), and an estimated 59.2% hike on 2021 which endured 138 days of movie theater closures. France reports its box office in terms of admissions, however, the total for the year is expected to exceed $1 billion.

China’s box office in 2022 dropped 36% versus 2021, reaching approximately RMB 30B ($4.35B). According to China.org, citing figures from the China Film Administration, 85% of the 2022 revenue was generated by local movies, led by The Battle at Lake Changjin II with RMB 4.07B ($636M at historical rates, per comScore). This past weekend, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water became the highest-grossing studio import of the year, overtaking Jurassic World Dominion with an estimated $152.8M through Sunday.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water rang in the New Year with another $186.7M from 52 international markets for a $1.379B global cume to date. Excluding China, the film rose 4% from last weekend’s Christmas frame offshore (including China it was even with last session). The international box office now stands at an estimated $957M, meaning Way of Water will cross $1B overseas early this week. 

SUNDAY AM, NEW YEAR’S DAY: Refresh for more analysis and chart While New Year’s Eve is typically a better moviegoing day than Christmas Eve, business was still down yesterday at -27% from Friday for all movies. That’s a similar decline to last weekend’s Friday-to-Christmas Eve (-26%), however New Year’s Eve made more than Christmas Eve, $27.9M to $22.2M. Moviegoing is expected to be +19% on New Year’s Day, and there will be an extra cushion in Monday, Jan. 2 as many typically have off in honor of the Sunday holiday. Per our sources, weather wasn’t an issue this weekend.

Never bet against James Cameron, they said. And while “Avatar: The Way Of Water” got off to somewhat of a slow box office start—or at least it fell under some of the early projections which made pundits quickly skeptical of its chances—the Cameron maxim seems to be coming true.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is close on its way to the $1B global box office mark, having more than handily crossed $900M worldwide through its second Monday. This is the latest benchmark for the highly-anticipated sequel, and comes just 13 days after global rollout began. With $955.1M through Monday, The Way of Water has become the No. 3 highest-grosser of 2022 and the No. 4 biggest film of the pandemic era. What’s more, it is expected to hit the $1B worldwide milestone with today’s turnout. 

Coming out of its second weekend, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has banked an estimated $855.4M globally through Sunday. The sophomore session added $168.6M at the international box office in 52 markets for a $601.7M running cume.

Indonesian movies had racked up close to 55 million admissions in their home market as of December 18, according to local box office analyst Bicara Box Office, overtaking the previous record of 51.9 million admissions set in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. 

With strong and consistent mid-weeks, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has crested the $600M mark worldwide. This comes after it rapidly passed $500M global earlier this week, following its $441.6M opening weekend. The current worldwide total through Wednesday is $609.7M including $426.8M from the international box office.

The Walt Disney Studios officially has crossed $4 billion for 2022, making it the No. 1 studio in the running for this year’s worldwide box office. This occurs as 20th Century Studios’ James Cameron sequel Avatar: The Way of Water is about cross a half-billion worldwide.

Disney/20th Century Studio’s Avatar: The Way of Water is heading to a Monday around $16M which will take its four day total to $150.1M. Nothing to cry about as the Monday for the James Cameron directed movie bests the first Monday of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($11.1M).

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.