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Tag: The Way of Water

  • M. Night Shyamalan’s Latest Dethrones ‘Avatar 2’ After 7 Weeks

    M. Night Shyamalan’s Latest Dethrones ‘Avatar 2’ After 7 Weeks

    Avatar: The Way of Water has enjoyed quite the free range at the box office. No one wanted to even get close to what was definitely one of the biggest releases in 2022 and as it nears the global take of Titanic, it seems the film has finally been dethroned. The interesting part is that the one to do so was Knock at the Cabin by M. Night Shyamalan. His film opened at $14.2M in 3,643 theaters but also marks the lowest opening for a Shyamalan film.

    It seems like audiences aren’t quite enjoying the film as it has received a C CinemaScore, which is slightly below Old‘s C+ just a few years ago., which opened with $17M. So, Knock at the Cabin hasn’t had that big momentum that you’d hope to have to go into the weekend, but it still managed to dethrone a massive blockbuster so that’s something. Globally, it also opened to a soft $7M though these kinds of films normally leg out with a C CinemaScore may hold back.

    That wasn’t all this weekend as an experiment to slash ticket prices to attract older audiences has seemingly paid off with 80 for Brady pulling in $12.5M and taking the second spot. You read that correctly, Avatar: The Way of Water dropped down to third with a still impressive $10.8M in its eight weeks after holding on to the #1 title for seven weeks in a row; something only the previous Avatar entry managed.

    It should be noted that the 80 for Brady film also had more viewers than Knock at the Cabin at 1.3M. While it’s lower at the box office due to the lower ticket prices, it’s a promising showcase of one of the struggles that cinemas have nowadays. The tickets are continuing to get more expensive and audiences are becoming pickier to make sure it’s worth their run. So, reliable films like a Marvel Studios entry or something with strong word-of-mouth tend to pull in audiences.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Swims to Earn $2 Billion at the Worldwide Box Office

    ‘Avatar 2’ Swims to Earn $2 Billion at the Worldwide Box Office

    James Cameron is one-of-a-kind in how his films have a hold on the box office. After the groundbreaking success of his CG paradise with Avatar, he returns after a long hiatus to continue the franchise. All bets were off hoping for Avatar: The Way of Water to make as much money as it can at the box office, proving that there’s a lot more to get out of this film. Even Cameron was openly anxious about the risk going into the film’s release.

    Yet, now the film has managed to pass the $2 billion mark and now is only the sixth in film history to do so. It joins the ranks of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the last two Avengers films, and his own last two projects, Avatar and the Titanic. The film has seen a tremendous performance internationally and managed to pull in this accomplishment even with a subdued Chinese release.

    As of now, it’s expected to pass The Force Awakens and Infinity War at the box office, which would push it beyond $2.07B. The last Avatar film stands proudly at $2.9B while Avengers: Endgame is at $2.79B. It’s still unclear just how far Avatar: The Way of Water may go but there’s a chance it’ll pass Titanic‘s $2.19B.

    As of now, The Way of Water pulled in $598M domestically and $1.4B internationally. It’ll continue to dominate the box office until its first real competition arrives with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which is sure to leave its own imprint on the box office.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Avatar 3’ Will See the Return of Payakan and His Nemesis from ‘The Way of Water’

    ‘Avatar 3’ Will See the Return of Payakan and His Nemesis from ‘The Way of Water’

    Avatar: The Way of Water introduced the world to some amazing new characters that continue to expand the world of Pandora. Yet, with hints at the story of the third entry pushing the Sully family to further explore what else is out there, it seemed like perhaps we won’t spend too much time with some familiar characters especially those attached to the water in The Way of Water.

    As it turns out, we’ll definitely see the return of two rather interesting characters. As pointed out by producer Jon Landau, the whale-like being known as Payakan will return, but “not just as a creature.” He goes on to highlight that they’ll “explore his relationship with Lo’ak.” So, it seems we’ll get to further explore his race and uncover something we may have not expected.

    The biggest surprise however is that Scoresby (Brendan Cowell) is also set to make a return. It’s interesting how villains simply don’t just stay down in this franchise. The arch-nemesis of Payakan lost his arm in the finale and was sent flying. For now, there’s no word though if he survived or we might even see the same memory transplant into an Avatar.

    Either way, it looks like the two will meet up once again for a fight that might see them fight each other in a new way. There’s definitely something interesting about how James Cameron tends to bring back characters from past iterations and continues to build them up. By the end of Avatar 5, we might have an army of former villains teaming up against the Sully family.

    Source: Empire

  • ‘M3GAN’ Impresses With $30M+ at the Box Office, ‘Avatar 2’ Passes $500M Domestically

    ‘M3GAN’ Impresses With $30M+ at the Box Office, ‘Avatar 2’ Passes $500M Domestically

    M3GAN is a sure-fire hit, as the film has now even beaten its recent projections and is set to wrap up the weekend with $30.2M. Internationally it also pulled in $14.8M putting it at an impressive $45M for a PG-13 film. It’s quite an increase from its initial $17M projection and a great win for Blumhouse, who made back the $12M production budget in just its opening weekend. It’s also a good indicator of strong word-of-mouth that could carry it in the coming weeks even with Avatar: The Way of Water still dominating.

    There’s hope after all for January to potentially lose its death month status for most releases. It’s the first movie to perform this well since 2012’s Devil Inside, which had a slightly higher opening. Even during the pandemic, horror films have remained the most consistent performers and even pull in audiences throughout multiple weeks; making the discussion surrounding the definite showcase of the CinemaScore more and more difficult.

    Speaking of, The A CinemaScore film Avatar: The Way of Water had another strong fourth weekend, as it pulled in another $45M and has now made $516M in the United States. Most of its gross is internationally at $1.1B, but it seems likely that it’ll pass two billion in a week or at the latest in two. Most of the competition won’t hit until February. These kinds of legs normally go to films with the coveted A+ rating, but James Cameron films just operate differently. Still, it’s an optimistic start to 2022 which has a much better balance in what films are set to release throughout the year.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘M3GAN’ Surprises and Dehtornes ‘Avatar 2’s Friday Box Office

    ‘M3GAN’ Surprises and Dehtornes ‘Avatar 2’s Friday Box Office

    M3GAN is a surprise hit as the film is currently overperforming. Initially expected to make around $20M, the film is currently en route toward $28M. If it keeps up the performance with the horror classic B CinemaScore, there’s a chance it could even scratch the $30M. Of course, it’s not that easy with horror films that don’t leg out over the weekend, as they tend to have a stronger hold in the following weeks. It also doesn’t have any real competition so the film is definitely a success for Blumhouse.

    The big surprise, however, is that the film managed to dethrone Avatar The Way of Water on Friday. Yes, the monolith of a film was finally pushed out of its top seat even if just for a single day. M3GAN is still unlikely to win the weekend, but it’s something that the film can be proud of, especially in how Blumhouse made use of the empty January to release a fitting counterprogramming that pulls audiences in.

    January used to be an infamous dead zone for film releases but has become a popular horror release month. M3GAN almost covered its $12M budget with its opening day and is definitely going to end up profitable by the end of the weekend or early next week. Scream was released on January 13th last year and also managed to pull in quite some impressive numbers. Perhaps there’s a new market this month and Blumhouse is definitely going to make good use of it moving forward. You can read what we thought of M3GAN by clicking here.

    Source: Twitter

  • James Cameron Confirms ‘Avatar 2’s Profitability and He’ll Make All Planned Sequels

    James Cameron Confirms ‘Avatar 2’s Profitability and He’ll Make All Planned Sequels

    James Cameron has been quite open about the importance of how profitable Avatar: The Way of Water will be. While he mapped out up to five sequels, if the franchise doesn’t prove financially stable for Disney, the new owner of 20th Century, there’s no point for them to invest upwards of $400M per entry moving forward. Luckily, the film has had some truly impressive legs throughout the Holiday season and in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, director James Cameron confirmed the film will be profitable in the “next few days.”

    It looks like just with the momentum that the film has now that will easily pass our break even in the next few days, so it looks like I can’t wiggle out of this, I’m gonna have to do these other sequels.

    James Cameron

    He does slightly reluctantly share that he will be quite busy for the next few years. Avatar 3 has already finished filming and they are working on bringing the world to life CG-wise. He also confirms that the fourth and fifth entries are already written as well.

    I know what I’m going to be doing the next six or seven years. The point is we’re going to be okay. I’m sure that we’ll have a discussion soon with the top folks at Disney about the game plan going forward for Avatar 3, which is already in the can – we’ve already captured and photographed the whole film so we’re in extended post-production to do all that CG magic. And then Avatar 4 and 5 are both written. We even have some of 4 in the can. We’ve begun a franchise at this point. We’ve begun a saga that can now play out over multiple films.

    James Cameron

    It certainly sounds like the director will be quite busy in the next few years, but he does love the franchise. He’s also talked about expanding Avatar in multiple ways and even with a new director taking over when he eventually no longer can. So, if it remains as profitable, we’ll see a lot more of Avatar in the future of our cinemas.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Avatar’s Sequels May Potentially Face Some Delays

    ‘Avatar’s Sequels May Potentially Face Some Delays

    Avatar‘s first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, has hit theaters and is making quite a splash. Just yesterday night, it managed to pass the one billion mark and is likely to continue making headway with some impressive box office legs. Of course, we already know that a third entry is already on the horizon but not everything seems as set in stone as initially hoped for by everyone involved.

    In an interview with The Wrap, director James Cameron reveals that they have everything mapped out up until the fifth entry of the Avatar series, but it does seem like they’re unlikely to hit their expected release dates; at least going by how Cameron hints at some uncertainties surrounding their production and wanting to give each entry a bit more time between the various sequels.

    They exist. These stories exist. We know exactly what we’re doing. We know what these movies are gonna be. We just have to go through the process of getting them done. So, you know ideally two years from now, [Avatar] 3 comes out. Ideally maybe 3 years after that 4 comes out and then ideally maybe a couple years after that 5 comes out. So we won’t be away from the market place, so we’ll have that sense of a persistent world and ongoing story that I think people want. If they’re going to invest in these characters, they’re going to invest in this world, we want to give it to them in a regular cadence, ideally, and that was the game plan. That’s one of the reasons we were gone so long.

    James Cameron

    There’s always a risk when trying to adapt a franchise and Avatar so far has been quite the untested waters (pun intended) for Disney. It’s a high-investment franchise and if they want to make more sequels, it’ll be quite expensive to roll those out while also trying to ensure they remain profitable. As it stands, Avatar: The Way of Water seems to be heading in a good direction but no one can blame them for waiting it out a bit.

    Source: The Wrap

  • ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Hollywood’s Most Expensive Film to Date

    ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is Hollywood’s Most Expensive Film to Date

    After a strong but surprisingly below-expectation opening weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water still made an impressive global $435M opening weekend. It won’t break any records but going by its hold over the weekend, it’ll likely have the legs any other James Cameron film has though just how far it’ll go remains uncertain. Still, the pressure is on as the film must make at least $2 billion to be profitable, at least that is what Cameron has shared in the past.

    We never knew exactly just how big the budget was for the film, but it turns out that it’s far more massive than any of us could’ve imagined. Even Avengers: Endgame and its multitude of big-name stars had a production budget of around $300M. The CG-heavily film has a massive budget of $460M according to a new report by Deadline. That’s quite impressive and makes sense given they also filmed the first two sequels back-to-back.

    The film’s budget is definitely impressive and there are currently no fears the film will perform incredibly well moving forward. It’s entering the holiday season where the normal day acts like a weekend. Presales factor about 20% for its post-release window and even Marvel averages around 5%. Cameron will likely do what he always does similar to what Top Gun: Maverick accomplished earlier in the year. Now, the only question remains: just how far will it go, and will it inspire Disney to go all in with Cameron‘s plans for the franchise?

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Avatar 2’ Opens Below Expectations at a Still Impressive $134M Domestically

    ‘Avatar 2’ Opens Below Expectations at a Still Impressive $134M Domestically

    Expectations were high for Avatar: The Way of Water to leave the box office’s 2022 record holder in the dust. Yet, it seems that the film has surprisingly lost some momentum over the weekend and fell short of its initial $175M+ opening weekend. The reports are in and the film stands at $134M domestic opening, which is $60M higher than the previous entry, the 6th highest opening ever for a December release and ties with The Batman earlier this year.

    Globally, the film managed to pull in a great $435M and if the film keeps the legs that most of James Cameron‘s films have, it ‘s got a good hold for the coming weeks, especially with how the film has no real competition in the coming weeks. Top Gun Maverick also had a lower opening weekend but managed to pull in $1.5B in its entire run but expectations are also high that Avatar: The Way of Water needs to make at least $2B to even be considered profitable.

    It should also be noted that the World Cub’s final game played this weekend alongside a big NFL game, which could also be one of the influencing factors on why the box office isn’t as high as one would’ve initially expected. It’s one thing that is often forgotten when discussing box office numbers, especially information that is lost years later that give a film a massive boost. Marvel Studios’s films have a stronger opening so no one gets spoiled, which isn’t a worry with Avatar: The Way of Water.

    Still, it’s surprising to see the film underperform by around $40M considering just how big of a project it is. Avatar had a lot of excitement surrounding it and it falling even lower than the initially low point of $150M might have some scratching their head. The pandemic has made predictions quite difficult and it’s another project that ended up struggling to meet its expectations at the box office this year. Even Marvel Studios’ frontloaded films had some decent holds after a massive second weekend drop, which might be more reflective of current box office developments.

    For now, the second weekend will be its big test. Even if it fell short of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, it’ll need a strong hold to ensure it doesn’t lose momentum. It’s still curious to think that its CinemaScore stands at an A rather than the A+ of Top Gun Maverick, which might hint at its legs being strong but not as strong as they could’ve been. With Marvel movies having decent runs with B scorings, it’s not as simple as it might seem at times.

    Source: Twitter, Variety

  • ‘Avatar 2’ No. 1 in All International Markets, Strong Day One Box Office

    ‘Avatar 2’ No. 1 in All International Markets, Strong Day One Box Office

    It looks like James Cameron already on a roll, as the day one estimates are already at $15.8M in specific international markets, which includes France, Germany, Italy, and Korea. It’s looking quite strong, even at 99% in some markets and it’s 124% ahead of the original Avatar and even 13% higher than Jurassic World: Dominion. It’s Chinese release isn’t as strong as hoped due to COVID issues in the market. It’s made an additional $5.41M over Wednesday and Thursday.

    Korea has also pulled in $2.6M additionally on Thursday with the Wednesday release being the market’s second highest opening day for the month ever. To no surprise, Avatar: The Way of Water has pulled in thee top spot in all markets with barley any competition out there to slow it down. Estimates surrounding China are quite shy with the markets uncertainty but it’ll still give the film a decent boost for its release.

    Will the film be as record breaking as everyone believes it’ll be? Most still truly believe that the film has a good chance to break records, 2022 has been a rough year for the bo xoffice. Besides a lack of releases and the market building any momentum, there’s the potential that this film could have the same legs that Spider-Man: No Way Home had with no real competition after its release this week. Still, it’s uncertain if it’ll have the same legs that pushed its original release after Top Gun: Maverick already dominated this year.

    Source: Deadline