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Movie Monday: ‘The Way of Water’ Sinks Below Predictions

Avatar Way of Water

Note: This marks the return of what we call Movie Monday, a weekly blog where we track the box-office performances of the latest releases in theaters. It’s an opportunity for us to keep track of the movie industry as a whole, and an opportunity to tell us what you thought about the movies mentioned. Feel free to chime in below with your thoughts.

Everyone knew that Avatar: The Way of Water—the long-awaited sequel to director James Cameron’s record-setting 2009 film Avatar—was gonna be big. The question was, how big?

The answer is … not big enough. Yet.

Make no mistake, The Way of Water earned plenty of cash. According to Box Office Mojo, the Avatar sequel earned $134 million in North America this past weekend. Toss in the $300.5 million it made overseas, and The Way of Water has already banked $434.5 mil.

But many prognosticators expected that the sequel’s global take would be north of $500 million, with $175 million of that coming in North America. The Way of Water sank well below those lofty marks. And according to Time magazine, The Way of Water is also one of the most expensive movies ever. Disney (which owns 20th Century Studios) spent about $350 million to make the thing. And that’s not counting marketing and other costs, which typically at least double a movie’s pricetag. Cameron himself has said that the film would need to make about $2 billion at the box office just to break even. So $134 million feels a bit … shallow?

That said, the original Avatar didn’t go gangbusters either in its debut. It made just $77 million domestically its first weekend in theaters, and it wound up with a staggering $2.9 billion worldwide. In swimmer’s terms, Cameron’s films tend to have a good closing kick.

But if Disney (which now owns Avatar distributor 20th Century Studios) wished more people had seen The Way of Water this weekend, it’s not like they were watching anything else—at least not in theaters. Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverfinished second with $1.7 million (bringing its total domestic tally to $419 million and its worldwide gross to $786 million). Violent Night scared up $1.5 million worth of bloody cookies for third place. Strange World ($712,000) and The Menu ($540,000) closed out the week’s top five.

Next week, another heavy hitter enters the fray: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Will it get its own wish and dethrone The Way of Water? Stay tuned.

paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

4 Responses

  1. -Movie Monday is back! Now we’re talking!

    Now we just need Culture Clips back and the Plugged In blog I once knew and loved will be back!

  2. -What’s most glaring to me is what’s NOT on this list. Oscar-worthy original movies like The Fabelmans, Tar (the best movie I’ve seen this year), The Banshees of Inisherin, and She Said are all tanking. There are a lot of reasons that have nothing to do with the relative quality of those movies versus your typical CGI-driven franchise extension. This doesn’t bode well for people who enjoy going to the movies and watching something that enriches you and makes you think and feel.

    Seriously, everyone over the age of 14 or so, watch Tar. The acting, directing, sound, and screenplay are all top-notch. Hollywood needs to know moviegoers appreciate movies like this. Because we do, right?

  3. -James Cameron has been working on this new film for a LONG time, long before the pandemic. The pandemic affected EVERYTHING in ways we have no frame of reference. Many people discovered streaming services, and I talk to people all the time who say they would just prefer to watch movies at home.

    Me, I LOVE going to the movies. Being able to see a powerful film with an audience of other appreciative moviegoers is still a wonderful communal experience. I hate the fact that movie theaters are closing.

    As for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” I was determined to see it on the big screen, in 3D, just like the original. And my reaction was similar to how I felt about the first film: A somewhat slender, uncomplicated story bolstered by amazing new film technology. 8 out of 10 stars for me.

  4. -High prices, including $6 bottles of water, and the serious likelihood there will be constant chatter or motion within 4 steps of my seat makes going to the movie theatre as inversely distasteful as it was enjoyable just a few years ago. Avatar 1 was Dances with Wolves via CGI and I’m not really interested in watching (assumed based on the lack of exposition by reviewers) another thoroughly predictable story in an irritatingly predictable environment.