Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to register a strong opening in India at the box office. The film sold tickets worth ₹20 crore in advance booking for its opening day across the country. This figure has been surpassed by only four films this year–KGF Chapter 2, RRR, Brahmastra Part One Shiva, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. (Also read: Avatar The Way of Water movie review: James Cameron’s sequel is a stunning spectacle despite the packed story)
As per trade sources, the film earned just over ₹20 crore in advance booking across India till Thursday night. The figure is among the top five advance booking collections this year in India but way behind the mark set by KGF Chapter 2 ( ₹80 crore), which reported the highest advance booking in India ever.
While Avatar 2 has sold fewer tickets than some of the films below it in the list of highest advance booking, it has collected more courtesy higher average ticket prices. This is due to the fact that the film has a wide release in 3D and IMAX screens. In some cities, the ticket prices are as high as ₹2500-3000 for certain IMAX shows. Interestingly, many of these shows are sold out, even as far as Sunday.
The James Cameron film is expected to rake in anywhere between ₹40-50 crore at the Indian box office on Friday, a solid opening for any Hollywood film. In fact, very few Indian films have managed this number this year (KGF 2 and RRR only, in fact). Globally too, the film is expected to gross somewhere around $600 million in its opening weekend, which will set it on course to be one of the highest grossing films ever if it can maintain good pace past the weekend.
The fact that Avatar 2 has generated largely positive reviews should help a good word of mouth, provided the audience likes it as much as the critics have. This will give it the much-needed legs to rule at the box office over the remainder of the year.
Avatar: The Way of Water is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster Avatar, which is the highest-grossing film of all time. The sequel may find it tough to break that record (almost $3 billion worldwide) but it is expected to leave a solid impression on the worldwide box office.
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