Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios photo)
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Approaches $1.4 Billion Global Box Office Entering 2023
January 1, 2023
Disney-owned 20th Century Studios’ sci-fi fantasy sequel Avatar: The Way of Water entered the New Year the way it ended 2022: on top. The James Cameron-directed follow-up to 2009’s blockbuster Avatar is reportedly set to generate an estimated $82 million in ticket sales through Jan. 2, topping $420 million at the North American box office.
The movie is nearing $1.4 million in worldwide revenue, which is reportedly the financial break-even threshold, Cameron has told media outlets.
The movie ended 2022 as the No. 2 global release behind Paramount Pictures’ Top Gun: Maverick, with $1.19 billion in revenue, quietly passing Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World Dominion at $1 billion.
In a distant second, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, is projected to sell more than $21 million worth of tickets through Jan. 2, upping its global total past $66 million.
Rounding out the podium is Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with $6.5 million in four-day revenue, to up its worldwide total past $818.5 million.
Sony Pictures’ Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody added more than $5 million in projected ticket sales to up its total to $16 million. That was easily enough to best Paramount Pictures’ financially disappointing Hollywood period drama Babylon, with the reported $80 million production co-starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie adding just $3.6 million to an underwhelming $11 million box office total since launching on Dec. 23.