While the overall projected $435 million global weekend for “Avatar: The Way of Water” qualifies as a good start, the film stumbled hard in China. Despite pre-release tracking suggesting an over/under $120 million opening in the world’s second-biggest moviegoing marketplace, the 3-D action sequel earned just $57.1 million. It’s the latest example of a big Hollywood movie underwhelming in China.
Its opening day was around $24 million, essentially tied with the $24.6 million first Friday of “Aquaman” in 2018. While the James Wan-directed underwater action fantasy earned $94 million over its Friday-Sunday weekend, the James Cameron-directed underwater action fantasy barely doubled its opening day.
“Aquaman” legged out to $298 million in China (out of $1.15 billion worldwide). Even if “Avatar: The Way of Water” benefits from post-debut legs, strong word of mouth and audiences waiting until they can see it in IMAX or related PLF auditoriums — 99% of the ticket sales were for 3-D shows — it’s now unknown if the mega-budget sequel will match even the $159 million Chinese gross of Universal’s “Jurassic World Dominion.”
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