Avatar: The Way of Water flooded theaters to the tune of $135 million, falling short of projections that eyed the sequel opening upwards of $150M. Why did it fall short? Interestingly, it appears that it was because this is probably the biggest event movie in years and people ONLY want to see it on the largest screens and in 3D. They’re biding their time to get the best seats in the best formats even though they won’t get to see it on opening weekend. There are only so many premium screens out there and this movie’s long running time limits the number of times that it can be shown on them. People just don’t seem interested in seeing it on regular screens.
It’s the Christmas season and people aren’t necessarily rushing to cinemas. They know they are going to have time off from work and school and can take in movies over the next couple of weeks at their leisure. Avatar 2 isn’t a comic book movie, so there isn’t that driving desire to see it before it gets spoiled by other people on the internet. There’s not much there to spoil.
So people are waiting it out and buying tickets weeks in advance to get those premium seats and there’s nothing coming out soon that will vanquish Avatar 2 from the 3D IMAX or Dolby screens, so this should leg out just fine.
Critics don’t exactly love Avatar 2 as its Rotten Tomatoes score is decent but not great at 78%. Its certified audience score is much better at 94%. Exiting audiences love it, giving it an A CinemaScore, and 91% positive and 5 stars via PostTrak.
While a few major titles are opening over the next couple of weeks, there is almost nothing opening in January. Expect a lot of repeat business for Avatar 2 going into the New Year.
Check out the Top Five below:
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- Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney/20th Century Studios) – 3-day $134M/Wk 1
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) – 3-day $5.4M/Total $418.99M/Wk 6
- Violent Night (Universal) – 3-day $5M/Total $34.96M/Wk 3
- Strange World (Disney) – 3-day $2.2M/Total $33.8M/Wk 4
- The Menu (Searchlight) – 3-day $1.7M/Day Total $32.1M/Wk 5
Avatar: The Way of Water works as a family movie and should do well over Christmas weekend, as families flock to the box office at that time. Next week, it will compete with Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, Babylon and I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Puss In Boots is getting excellent buzz. Babylon is getting terrible buzz and it’s another three-hour opus that could hurt it. We all know which movie I’ll be checking out. (Please, please, please reenact the “Queen of the Night” moment from The Bodyguard!)
Did you check out Avatar: The Way of Water this weekend or are you waiting for better premium seats? Will you be hitting the multiplex on Christmas weekend? If so, what are you seeing?
