“Avatar 2: The Way Of Water” had a really strong start at the global box office – and given its immense production cost, it was the least. The future will tell if the long-awaited sequel to the most successful film of all time can even begin to make it to the box office spheres of “Avatar – Aufbruch nach Pandora”. Factors such as Christmas on a weekend, the extra long running time of 192 minutes (and the corresponding lower number of performances) and winter storm Elliott also clouded the first figures and made predictions and extrapolations even more difficult. Yet Nearly three weeks into its launch, we can see very clearly: “Avatar 2” is definitely a long-running hit.
At the turn of the year, the mega blockbuster once again lured the masses to cinemas all over the world. But before we look at the international figures, let’s first look at the German cinema charts. They are particularly impressive.
“Avatar 2”: Most watched movie 2022 in Germany
The film opened in German cinemas on December 14, 2022 and overtook the previous annual record holder “Minions 2 – In Search of the Mini-Boss” (4.154 million visitors) by number of visitors on December 30: Within just 16 days, “Avatar 2” sold 4.55 million tickets in Germany, making it the most watched movie of 2022.
After the Christmas record, “The Way Of Water” now also gets the “New Year’s record” in Germany: Never before has a film been seen by so many people in Germany on the weekend when New Year’s Eve falls on a Saturday. Last weekend, 1.07 million people bought tickets for the return to Pandora in this country, playfully trumping everything that came before. The previous record holder “The Lion King” had “only” about 500,000 visitors in 1994. However, looking at the sales generated is even more impressive.
With a turnover of 64 million euros, “The Way Of Water” is already the 18th most successful film in Germany of all time. He should crack the top 10 in a few days (“The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey” takes place on 10 with almost 69 million euros). Whether the all-time record of 126.2 million euros for the first “Avatar” will shake, will probably only become clear in a few weeks.
More than 14 million euros in the 3rd weekend: that has never happened before!
In terms of box office revenue, “Avatar 2” also has the most successful third weekend ever in Germany! Last weekend, no less than 14.4 million euros was flushed into the local treasury – a whopping 1.4 million euros more than the previous record holder. The already mentioned start of the “Hobbit” saga came in 2013 at 13 million euros. While viewership normally drops from weekend to weekend, the second Pandora adventure actually increased, defying all unwritten box office laws, so it’s quite conceivable that the film would also have the most successful fourth weekend of all time in seven days. have .
In addition, the film is about to become the most successful film in Germany since the start of the pandemic. The top spot is currently held by Daniel Craig’s final appearance as James Bond. “No time to die” grossed 65.2 million euros and should therefore probably be overtaken by “Avatar 2” in the coming days. After all, this is just over a million missing for the record.
“Avatar 2” quickly overtakes “Top Gun 2” as the biggest hit of the year
Also internationally, interest in James Cameron’s sci-fi fantasy epic is not waning, on the contrary. Avatar 2 currently has a worldwide gross of $1.397 billion, temporarily making it the 14th highest-grossing film of all time. The film has thus overtaken Marvel’s “Black Panther” and the “Harry Potter” finale “Deathly Hallows 2” among others – and will probably break into the top 10 in the coming days. And then pick up the next record.
“Top Gun 2: Maverick” is currently the highest-grossing film of the past cinema year with $ 1.488 billion. However, he should easily import the 90 million that James Cameron’s latest mega hit is missing during the week. “The Way Of Water” is poised to become the world’s highest-grossing film of 2022.
But while that was to some extent expected and necessary, one question arises in particular:
How much money will Avatar 2 eventually make?
The weather situation in the US has now calmed down. And while many people are still grappling with the aftermath of Elliott, many, many others are flocking back to theaters – especially for Avatar 2. And on our side of the pond, the hype surrounding “The Way Of Water” is far from over. . (The author of this article is still struggling three weeks later – going to the cinema for the third time this week – to get good seats at an IMAX show because the theater is almost constantly booked.)
All this and the number of visitors, which in this country is not falling, but on the contrary is increasing, suggests that that in the end “Avatar 2: The Way Of Water” will surely be enough for a place among the highest grossing films of all time. “Avengers: Infinity War” ($2.048 billion) and “Star Wars VII” ($2.068 billion) currently occupy fourth and fifth place, while “Titanic” ranks third with $2.187 billion – a respectable distance from $610 million behind Avengers: Endgame. Means: the odds are not bad that “Avatar 2” can at least move to third place. Impressively, three of the four highest-grossing films of all time went to James Cameron.