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“Avatar: The Way of Water” continues to dominate the holiday box office.

Avatar 2's total collection in India now stands at Rs 333 crore, according to trade reports. If the streak continues, the film will be able to surpass Avengers Endgame's total collection in India which stands at around Rs 367 crore.

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

Link Stream / Download Avatar: The Way of Water

Runtime : 192 minutes

ABOUT AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

More than a decade later, Avatar's sequel, The Way of Water, released on December 16. The film traces the life of the Sully family comprising Jake, Neytiri and their kids. Steven Lang's Quaritch and his tribe attack them and how Sullys retort forms the story. The sequel is more centered around interpersonal relationships and is about protecting families. The James Cameron's directorial stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, and Kate Winslet. Avatar: The Way of Water is running successfully in theatres in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.

James Cameron’s epic adventure has now hit the $1.17 billion mark globally, becoming the third highest-grossing film of the pandemic era, behind “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $1.9 billion and “Top Gun: Maverick” with $1.5 billion.

On Wednesday, “Avatar: The Way of Water” grossed $20 million domestically, bringing its Stateside haul to $358 million. It added $47.9 million to the pot from international markets. That puts its foreign gross at $810.6 million. It now ranks as the highest-grossing international release of the year.

But the “Avatar” sequel carries a massive price tag. Cameron has suggested that in order to break even, “Avatar: The Way of Water” needs to be one of the highest-grossing movies in history. Sources close to the production claim he was being somewhat hyperbolic and set the break-even figure at closer to $1.4 billion — a milestone that the sequel has a good chance of achieving.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” focuses on the Sully clan as they face down a set of invaders that threaten the harmony of Pandora, their mystical home planet. Cameron developed new technology that allowed him to shoot performance capture sequences underwater and the cast learned to free dive so they could hold their breath during extended action scenes.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” brings back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang and Sigourney Weaver, the stars of the first “Avatar.” It also includes franchise newcomer Kate Winslet, who previously starred in Cameron’s “Titanic” another water-based epic that defied the odds to become a box office sensation.

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Disney) continues to stay afloat at the box office. Its enduring strength, with signs of momentum that could carry it over $600 million domestic, is the sole standout figure this holiday.

Its domestic gross of $63 million for three days (the same as last weekend) and worldwide $250 million puts it at $421 million domestic and $1.378 billion total through its third weekend. Next weekend (along with a domestic Monday holiday and school vacation in many places still) will tell more about whether it exceeds $2 billion worldwide. At this point, chances are good.

However, the impressive performance of “Avatar: The Way of Water” is not by itself anything historic. Though essential and impressive, it is not a record compared to some other blockbusters during this period. The initial “Avatar” did $68 million its third weekend, which at today’s higher ticket prices would have been about $100 million. The third weekend of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” six years ago did even better. The difference is that both fell from their previous weekends, which does reinforce the fact that estimates for “The Way of Water” need to remain fluid.

After last weekend when wintry issues hurt numbers, grosses for all titles increased slightly. The total (initial estimate: $99 million) is a smaller increase than similar times when Christmas and New Years fell on Sunday. Generally, it has been substantially better, even as much as 50 percent (1993). The main reason for that is in previous years new films opened Christmas Day, and unlike this year, they were usually decent or better.

Here is the grim reality, obscured by the strong numbers for James Cameron’s triumph: though the weekend might reach $100 million, in what normally one of the best of the year, that’s not anything to brag about. In 2019, when tickets cost 20 percent less than today, only four weekend’s took in less than that the whole year. And only one had a lower attendance.

The $99 million total is half of the same weekend three years ago. That brings down our rolling four-week comparison to 2019 t0 45 percent, nearly close to the low mark. That’s a sad end to a disappointing year where recovery was supposed to be better.

The complaint, to some extent valid, is that there aren’t enough films released. But three new wide ones did open for Christmas. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (Universal) is best in class among these, #2 this weekend at $16.3 million, nearly $61 million in. But most years that gross would have placed it at best as #5. “Sing” in 2016 its second weekend, with New Years also on Sunday, grossed $42 million unadjusted. Give “Puss” credit though for a jump of 31 percent this weekend.