Avatar: The Way of Water makes cinematic history at the box office
The new Avatar film Avatar: The Way of Water has taken over one billion at the global box office, becoming the fastest film to reach that milestone out of all the films released this year.
Only a select few films have made a billion this year, with others including Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion.
So far the film has grossed $317million in the US and $712m internationally, reports Variety.
The long-awaited sequel follows 13 years after the initial Avatar film. Titanic director James Cameron has directed both epic fantasy features, which are about the beings that live on a faraway moon called Pandora which humans try to inhabit to mine a valuable mineral.
Kate Winslet, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver all voice characters in Avatar: The Way of Water, which is as visually sumptuous to look at as the original film.
The original Avatar showed off the potential of computer-generated imagery in cinema, and swept the board at the 2010 Oscars, taking nine gongs including Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, Best Picture and Best Director.
Avatar: The Way of Water took 14 days to gross one billion worldwide, the fastest film to reach the milestone since Spider-Man: No Way Home, which took 12 days to take the same amount in 2019.
The new Avatar becomes one of only six films in cinema history to take the sum. But analysts believe the film needs to take around 2 billion at the box office to break even after incredibly high production costs.
Morning Wire’s review was less than favourable about the second instalment in the franchise. Our critic James Luxford said: “The first Avatar found success by stretching the boundaries of what was visually possible with then-new technology.
“The Way of Water doesn’t have that novelty, and with so much missing in terms of narrative, this sequel serves as a grim portent for the films to come.”
Avatar: The Way of Water is in cinemas now