Most of 2022’s biggest movies have already been released — Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Jackass Forever (hey, it was big for some of us) — with one exception. Avatar: The Way of Water comes out on December 15, and it’s expected to do big business. The sequel to the highest-grossing movie of all-time “should open to at least $150 million-$170 million when sailing into North American theaters,” according to the Hollywood Reporter, “and those are conservative estimates.”
More bullish observers believe the Christmas corridor tentpole has a shot at becoming only the fourth December tentpole to cross $200 million in its opening weekend behind last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1 million), 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million) and 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million). One difference: those films were all fanboy events, whereas the first Avatar was more of a slow burn.
Let’s say that Avatar: The Way of Water makes $200 million during opening weekend. That would put it only $1.8 billion away from being profitable! “You have to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history [to break even],” director James Cameron told GQ about his “very fucking [expensive]” movie. Hollywood accounting, don’tcha love it?
But if anyone can do it, it’s Mr. Alien$.
(Via the Hollywood Reporter)