Avatar 2 Box Office Beats No Way Home, Becomes Highest-Grossing Pandemic Movie

Avatar: The Way of Water continues to excel at the box office, now surpassing Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the highest-grossing movie of the pandemic era. Released 13 years after James Cameron’s record-breaking original film, Avatar: The Way of Water continues the story of the Sully family as they leave the forests of Pandora to take refuge with a new oceanic clan of Na’vi. The film, which was met with mostly positive reviews from critics, was far from a sure-thing when it came to box office, with Cameron himself admitting that it was a financial risk. The risk clearly paid off, however, and it didn’t take long for Avatar: The Way of Water to become the highest-grossing movie of 2022.

According to Collider, Avatar: The Way of Water has now passed another major box office milestone, beating Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the sixth highest-grossing movie of all time and the highest of the pandemic era. Avatar: The Way of Water has now grossed over $1.916 billion worldwide, with the sequel expected to hit $2 billion in the near future. This new milestone means Cameron’s follow-up film can now set its sights on Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which grossed $2.04 and $2.069, respectively.

The Way Of Water’s Box Office Success Explained

Despite performing just under expectations during its opening weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water quickly proved that there was definitely still audience interest in the franchise. Unlike MCU movies, which tend to be more front-loaded at the box office, Cameron’s sequel, like the original film, has performed very strongly from week to week with low drops. The lower opening weekend can be partially attributed to Avatar: The Way of Water‘s long run-time, which makes the sequel more of a planned occasion for movie-goers, but data also suggests that viewers were electing to wait to watch the movie in the optimum format (IMAX 3D), rather than settle for standard screenings.

Like the original Avatar, strong word-of-mouth has played a crucial role in the success of the sequel. Although Avatar: The Way of Water scored lower than the original film on Rotten Tomatoes with critics, the audience score is much higher, meaning word-of-mouth from friends and family has played an important role in getting audiences to theaters. There isn’t any clear data available yet, but it’s likely that the sequel is also doing well in terms of repeat business. The original Avatar benefited from viewers seeing the movie in theaters multiple times and the strong performance of the follow-up suggests that this could once again be the case. Similar to the first movie, Avatar: The Way of Water‘s worldwide total has also greatly benefited from strong performance overseas, with the movie grossing $1.34 billion in international markets.

What The Way Of Water’s Success Means For The Avatar Franchise

With Avatar: The Way of Water proving that there is still very much an appetite for Pandora and the continued adventures of the Sully family, Cameron is now set to release a series of additional sequels. A third movie, which has already been filmed and is in post-production, is scheduled to be released in 2024, and it’s very likely that Cameron’s planned (and written) fourth and fifth Avatar films will also get the green light from Disney in the near future. It’s unclear how much more gas Avatar: The Way of Water has in the tank, but it’s looking like it’s not done breaking records just yet.