Remember when people were worried that Avatar: The Way of Water would flop at the box office? Yeah, about that: the sequel to the highest-grossing movie ever is now the highest-grossing movie of 2022. After less than a month in theaters, The Way of Water is up to $1.5 billion globally, topping the $1.488 billion brought in by Top Gun: Maverick.
If only Tom Cruise had flown a mighty ikran, not a fighter jet.
Variety reports that “now that The Way of Water has demonstrated its staying power, insiders believe the aquatic action adventure is going to generate a minimum of $1.825 billion. Moreover, it has a real shot at crossing $2 billion worldwide, a nearly impossible benchmark in COVID times.” Only five films have ever crossed the $2 billion barrier (when not adjusted for inflation) — Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Titanic, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War — and none since the pandemic. Spider-Man: No Way Home got close with $1.9 billion, but not quite.
Avatar: The Way of Water is also the 11th highest-grossing movie of all-time, and will top Furious 7, The Avengers, 2019’s The Lion King, and Jurassic World within weeks. The only real question is: what movie will stop Avatar 2‘s reign at the top of the weekly box office chart? Look out, James Cameron. M3GAN is coming for you.
(Via Variety)