James Cameron‘s Avatar: The Way of Water closed out its opening weekend with a total of $134 million USD. Although The Way of Water fell short of its $150 million USD to $175 million USD projections, there will be no direct competition for the film until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premieres on February 17. In addition, the film’s running time is a three hours and 12 minutes, resulting in fewer showtimes – and less in daily earnings.
The Way of Water is produced by Cameron alongside his longtime Lightstorm partner Jon Landau. The movie stars Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang, and once again centers on Worthington’s Sully and Saldaña’s Na’vi character, Neytiri, picking up a decade after the original. It follows their family, with additional stars including franchise newcomer Kate Winslet.
With the Christmas holidays coming up, insiders project that more theatergoers will be able to find the time to catch the film. Said Disney EVP of Theatrical Distribution Tony Chambers: “We got the word of mouth, we’ve got a great movie, we have the screens and a clear run ahead throughout the holidays.” Travis Reid, CEO and President of RealD, added: “Just as the original Avatar did, Avatar: The Way of Water has set a new benchmark for the current 3D marketplace. James Cameron and his team have shown what is artistically, creatively, and commercially possible when you have filmmakers completely committed to immersing audiences in this 3D world and the result is visually mind blowing. We expect to continue to see strong 3D results worldwide thru the holiday and new year.”
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