Director James Cameron’s long, long, long awaited sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has reportedly resulted in one of the most expensive movies ever made. Well, it looks like sparing no expense may have been well worth it, with Avatar: The Way of Water currently on track for a massive box office taking in its opening weekend. The latest box office projections find the Avatar sequel bringing in a staggering $525 million. That’s $175 million domestic and $350 million overseas. Clearly, audiences are more than ready for a return to Pandora.
An opening weekend of just over half a billion for Avatar: The Way of Water would dwarf the numbers made by the original movie back in 2009, which made a mere $77 million during the same period.
James Cameron has been blunt about the box office numbers needed to make Avatar: The Way of Water a success. The filmmaker has called the sci-fi action sequel “the worst business case in movie history” and revealed that “You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. That’s your threshold. That’s your break even.”
Following so many years in development and such a large-scale production, reports have claimed that the budget for Avatar: The Way of Water has ballooned to a wallet-busting $350-$400 million, which would make the blockbuster sequel one of the most expensive movies ever made. But surely, if any franchise can survive such pressure and make such numbers, it's Avatar.
Avatar: The Way of Water Lands in Theaters on Friday
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar: The Way of Water tells the story of the Sully family, the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure. The first of several Avatar sequels will pick up some 13 years after the first record-breaking outing, introducing audiences to Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri’s (Zoe Saldaña) new family. This will include several native Na’vi children, Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuktirey (Trinity Bliss), as well as the human child Miles Socorro, also known as Spider (Jack Champion), who Jake takes in after the child is born at the now-abandoned military base on Pandora.
Directed by James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, and Matt Gerald, each of whom will reprise their roles from the original movie, with Sigourney Weaver returning as a new character. New cast members include Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Brendan Cowell.
Avatar: The Way of Water is due for release on December 16, 2022. A further three sequels have also been given release dates, with the multiple follow-ups scheduled to be released on December 20, 2024, December 18, 2026, and December 22, 2028, respectively.