In its first weekend in theaters , Avatar: The Water Way grossed $441.6M versus $434.5M in late yesterday afternoon.
This is the third best global opening of the pandemic, behind only Spider-Man: No Way Home ($660.8M) and Doctor Strange 2 ($442M), and the second of 2022.
Globally, this is the 11th best opening ever:
1. Avengers: Endgame $ 1.22B
2. Avengers: Infinity War $640.5M
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home $600.8M
4. Fast & Furious 8 $541.9M
5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens $529M
6. Jurassic World $525.5M
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 $483.2M
8. Captain Marvel $456.7M
9. Star Wars: The Last Jedi $450.8M
10. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of the madness $449.4M
11. Avatar: The Water Way $441.6M
It’s also the second-best global gross ever, on Imax screens : $48.8M (11% of total) on 1,543 screens in 80 territories. US/Canada: $16.5M, International: $16.5M, China: $15.8M.
USA
James Cameron ‘s film grossed $134.0M, which we can break down as follows:
-3D screens (57%), an important figure considering the receipts of Doctor Strange 2 (14%) and Thor 4 (11%);
– total premium screens (62% including some 2D premium screens).
– males 56%
– over 25 years: 60%
Best Openings of 2022:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness $187.4M
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever $181.3M
Jurassic World: Domination $145.1M
Thor Love And Thunder $144.2M
Avatar: Water Way $134.0M
The Batman $134.0M
Top Gun: Maverick $126.7M
International
In 52 international territories, $307.6M was grossed, despite the World Cup final, of which 67% came from premium screens. As a reminder, the film was not released in Russia where the first film grossed $116M.
In countries like France, Germany and India, and 13 other smaller territories like Turkey, Poland and Portugal, Avatar: The Water Way has achieved the highest opening during the pandemic.
Top grossers were recorded in: China ($57M), South Korea ($24M), Germany ($19.9M), France ($19.3M), India ($18M), UK ($14M), Mexico ($13M ), Australia ($10.8M), Italy ($10.2M).
It debuted in first place with £11.1M (+68% compared to the 3-day opening of Avatar , totaling £96.7M).
China
For the first time since the new pandemic in China, which began on October 7, 100 million yuan was exceeded on Friday.
The recovery of the film market is slower than expected.
According to data from the National Film Specialty Office, in the 50th week (December 12-December 18), the domestic film box office revenue was 444 million yuan, a monthly increase of 276.27%.
Box Office China December 18:
1. Avatar: Running Water Sun: ￥95M/$13.6M, Tot: ￥398.3M/$57.1M
2. One Piece Film: Red Sun: ￥2M/$0.3M, Tot: ￥ 145.8M/$20.9M
3. Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween Sun: ￥0.8M/$115k, Tot: ￥167.4M/$24M
4. The Tipping Point : Sun: ￥360k/$51.6k, Tot: ￥171.5M /$24.6M
5. Home Coming : Sun: ￥230k/$33k, Total: ￥1592M/$228.4M
Avatar: The Avenue of Water , released on December 16, dominated 89.83% of the box office, grossing 398 million yuan over the weekend. As of 20:00 on December 19, the film had reached 428 million yuan, surpassing the $60M mark.
Compared to the first film, the domestic participation rate has dropped dramatically. Lighthouse data shows that Avatar 2 grossed 141 million yuan on December 17 , accounting for 78.3% of the market, with an average ticket price of 57.1 yuan and 8.5% attendance .
Furthermore, on Chinese social networks one wonders about the incredible disparity in ticket prices, in Imax theaters the price ranged from 19.9 yuan to 358 yuan. On December 7, Huaxia Film Distribution Company announced that the minimum ticket prices are: 3D digital: 25 yuan/per person, IMAX, laser: 30 yuan/per person, CINITY: 30 yuan/per person.
On December 18, Avatar 2 fell to 93.5482 million yuan (77.3% of the market). The average ticket price remained at 57.1 yuan, and the attendance rate dropped to 5.9%. That day, the total number of cinemas operating across the country was 103.46 million, -156 million from the previous day, or 82.6% nationwide.
South Korea
On Sunday, the film grossed $7.2M, the best result of the pandemic, with a decrease of only 5% compared to Saturday. In its five-day opening, the film grossed $24.7M and sold 2.7M tickets.
Second best weekend of the year ($22.7M Fri-Sun), behind Korea’s The Roundup , released in May, which grossed $21.1M (3 days), to finish the run at $100M.
Today Avatar 2 has dominated 83% of the market, grossing another $2.5M, the total rises to $27.4M and ticket sales rise to 2.9M.
France
Between Wednesday 14 (evening of the semi-final) and Sunday (afternoon of the final), Avatar: La via dell’acqua recorded an incredible average of 98 spectators out of almost 19,000 screenings, for a total of 1,847,000 admissions (70% of the market).
This is the best debut of the year at the French box office, the first film having registered 1,806,542 admissions. Second best opening of the pandemic, Avatar 2 places behind Spider-Man: No Way Home (2.094 million).
James Cameron ‘s film has risen to 43rd place in the all-time list.