After 13 years,James Cameronhas brought audiences back to Pandora with his mega-budget, high-octane, science-fiction extravaganzaAvatar: The Way of Water.Anticipation for the sequel was high ahead of its wide release on December, 16, with experts predicting huge box office numbers.Avatar: The Way of Waterhasn’t disappointed those backing it to attract a vast audience, with the film at the precipice of a half a billion global gross with $497 million in box office earnings thus far. It will come as no surprise then thatVarietybelievesAvatar: The Way of Wateris poised yet again to dominate this weekend’s box office over the extended Christmas period.
Avatar: The Way of Wateris projected to have a box office decline anywhere in the region of 40% to 50% from its sparkling debut, putting its prospective domestic earnings in the ballpark of $67 million to $80 million. These figures, should they bear fruit, will colossally outweigh the festive competition, but given how lean the festive cinema slate is in 2022, that was always going to be the case. Next in line to pick up the box office scraps left inAvatar: The Way of Water’swake will be Dreamworks' animated sequelPuss in Boots: The Last Wish, which is expected to take in between $25 million to $30 million as it rolls out across 4,000 American theaters on Wednesday, December 21. Set to be bumped into third place byAntonio Banderas' feline favorite will be directorDamien Chazelle’s,Babylon.Babylonopens Friday, December 23, and swaps out the romantic dream chasing of Hollywood seen in Chazelle’s hit-musicalLa La Land, for a sordid, whirlwind through the golden age of cinema starring the likes ofBrad PittandMargot Robbie.Chazelle’s film is set to take anywhere between $12 million to $15 million.
The projected figures forBabylonmirror those for the upcomingWhitney HoustonbiopicI Wanna Dance With Somebody,which starsNaomi Ackieas Houston and also graces theaters on December 23. WithI Wanna Dance With Somebody, Avatar: The Way of Water’sfestive box office competition comes to an end, but like all the films mentioned here, theAvatarsequel is competing as much with itself as it is the competition. Each film will need to gross enough to justify the investment made to produce them and attract their respective target markets to go to movie theaters. For,Avatar: The Way of Water,it looks like mission accomplished as audiences have been turning up in droves to see the film, for the likes ofBabylonand its alleged $78 million budget, a $15 million opening could spell trouble.
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Avatar: The Way of Wateris currently available to watch in theaters, and the science fiction sequel stars the likes ofSam Worthington,Zoe Saldana,Sigourney Weaver,Stephen LangandKate Winslet. You can check out the trailer for the film below.
