'Avatar: The Way of Water' Falls Short of Projections, Earns $134 Million USD in Opening Weekened

James Cameron‘s Avatar: The Way of Water closed out its opening weekend with a total of $134 million USD.

According to reports, the sequel experienced only a -16% decline from Friday to Saturday, earning 31% of its total from traditional 3D screens, 12% from IMAX 3D, 12% from premium large format 3D, 4% from premium large format 2D, 2% from Motion 3D and 1% from ScreenX 2D. The Way of Water grossed $16.5 million from 407 IMAX screens in North America to earn an average of over $40,000 USD per screen, while the global IMAX total from 1,543 screens in 80 markets earned $48.8 million USD — setting a new record for the second-highest worldwide debut.

Although The Way of Water fell short of its $150 million USD to $175 million USD projections, the worries are minimal for several reasons. There will be no direct competition for the film until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania premieres on February 17, and with the Christmas holidays coming up, more students will be able to find the time to catch the film in the cinema. “We got the word of mouth, we’ve got a great movie, we have the screens and a clear run ahead throughout the holidays,” saod Disney EVP of Theatrical Distribution Tony Chambers.

“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,” added Travis Reid, CEO and President of RealD.