'Avatar: Way of Water' surpasses 'Top Gun: Maverick' at the global box office with $1.5 billion
The original 'Avatar' film brought in over $3.5 billion in 2009
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond analyzes the opening weekend numbers for 'Avatar: The Way of Water' after some say the sequel failed to live up to Disney's box office hopes on 'The Claman Countdown.'
"Avatar: The Way of Water" is dominating box office sales, surpassing the highly anticipated "Top Gun: Maverick" released during the summer.
Global ticket sales for the James Cameron-directed film have surpassed $1.5 billion, according to Deadline. The original Avatar film released in 2009 became the highest-grossing movie in the history of cinema with global ticket sales of $3.5 billion.
However, "Maverick" remains the highest-grossing film of 2022 because a large potion of "Avatar" ticket sales were recorded the first week of 2023.
"Maverick" brought in a total of $1.49 billion as the sequel to the classic 1986 film with Tom Cruise as the star in both action thrillers.
'AVATAR 2' FALLS SHORT OF BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS WITH $134 MILLION DOMESTIC DEBUT
"Avatar 2" fell short of expectations for its domestic debut. (20th Century Studios via AP / AP Newsroom)
A breakdown of its current box office sales totals over $1 billion from international markets and revenue of over $400 million in the United States. Overall, "Way of Water" takes the 11th spot among the highest-grossing films of all time.
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The film's commercial success also helped make Disney the highest earner at the box office for the seventh consecutive year with revenue of nearly $5 billion.
Disney acquired the rights to the popular sci-fi franchise in 2019 after purchasing 20th Century Fox.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" has generated $1.5 billion in box office ticket sales. (20th Century Studios via AP / AP Newsroom)
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The film's overall budget was $350 million, which was well above the studio's break-even figure. Future installments to the franchise are likely due to the film's mostly positive reviews and ticket sales. Cameron had reportedly been working on "Way of the Water" since 2006.