Box Office: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is $53 million on opening day

INA - SOURCES 

After years of development and production, James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel has reached the big day.

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ “The Way of Water” took flight at the box office with a solid $53 million gross from 4,202 locations in its opening day, a figure that includes $17 million in Thursday previews. 

That ranked as the sixth highest first-day domestic gross of the year, lower than those earned by “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($90.7 million), “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” ($84.2 million), “Thor: Love and Thunder” ($69.5 million), “Jurassic World Dominion” ($59.5 million) and “The Batman” ($56.6 million). 

This is considered also a good deal higher than the $26.7 million opening day that the first “Avatar” landed in 2009, though the sequel arrives with the benefit of Thursday previews and years of anticipation.

All eyes were on “The Way of Water” as it's hoped to mount a bountiful box office run; it isn’t every weekend that theaters receive a sequel to the highest-grossing film ever.