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James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water” has raked in an astonishing $1.17 billion worldwide, but Cameron says it must make at least $2 billion to break even.

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

The first “Avatar” film was a massive success when it premiered back in 2009, earning almost $3 billion at the global box office.

SUNDAY AM, NEW YEAR’S DAY: While New Year’s Eve is typically a better moviegoing day than Christmas Eve, business was still down yesterday at -27% from Friday for all movies. That’s a similar decline to last weekend’s Friday-to-Christmas Eve (-26%). However, New Year’s Eve made more than Christmas Eve, $27.9M to $22.2M. Moviegoing is expected to be +19% on New Year’s Day today, and there will be an extra cushion in Monday, Jan. 2, as many typically have off in honor of the Sunday holiday. Per our sources, weather wasn’t an issue this weekend.

Disney/20th/Lightstorm’s Avatar: The Way of Water did $18M yesterday, taking its running total to $400M. Revised 3-day is $63.4M (+2% from last weekend, great), and 4-day is $82.4M, for a new domestic cume by EOD Monday of $440.5M. If those Disney estimates stick, Avatar 2 will be $400K shy of Rogue One‘s running total through its first 18 days. It took Rogue One another two weeks before it crossed the half billion mark stateside, the pic’s final total being $532.1M.

Through end of Sunday, Disney is reporting a $1.37 billion running global total for Avatar 2. Also by Monday, the 3D spectacle will pass the running domestic box office of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($439.6M). By hitting $400M yesterday, Avatar 2 officially becomes the third Disney title to cross that threshold after Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange 2 for 2022.

Rivals got excited and over-forecasted Avatar 2 for the 3-day and 4-day stretch, believing Saturday would be a $19.6M-$19.8M day. Again, today and Monday could put the James Cameron-directed, Jon Landau-produced sequel back on course to wild money.

Imax auditoriums added $8.4M to this weekend’s gross, -6% from last weekend, and repping

Avatar: The Way Of The Water, James Cameron’s years-in-the-making Avatar sequel, only arrived in theaters about two weeks ago, yet it’s already become the second highest-grossing movie of the year, with a global box office of about $1.2 billion (less than $300 million shy of Top Gun: Maverick’s nearly $1.5 billion). While critical reviews of the film have been mixed, audiences have readily reimmersed themselves in the plight of the Na’vi, a.k.a. those Blue People. But there’s one plot point in particular that has caused some discord and anger amongst fans: Spider’s (Jack Champion) decision to save his father, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).

While fans of the original 2009 film undoubtedly remember Quaritch as the villainous chief of security for Earth’s Resources Development Administration (RDA), Spider — Quaritch’s human son, who was abandoned on Pandora and taken in by Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) — is a new character in the film.

Though he has spent his life living among the Na’vi, Spider is forced to work against them when he is kidnapped by his father’s unit to act as a guide and translator. Ultimately, this complicated familial dynamic causes problems for both men, which leads to a life-or-death moment where Quaritch is drowning and his son is forced to choose whether to save his tormentous pops or let him die. After some deliberation, he opts for the former — a decision that has angered many viewers. In an interview with Variety, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, The Way of the Water’s husband-and-wife screenwriting team, explained why they love that the moment had such an emotional impact on viewers — even if they disagreed with their decision.

“The movie allows Spider to explore these ambivalent feelings he’s having,” Silver told Variety of the moment where he must decide whether to let his father live. “I mean, I think it’s fine that the audience is like, ‘Don’t rescue him!’”

Still, both writers stand by their decision from a storytelling perspective. “[T]he idea that Spider is compelled to rescue Quaritch is interesting from a character point of view,” said Silver.

“It’s this father-son theme that we dive so deeply into,” added Jaffa, “no pun intended.”

James Cameron has finally ushered in the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, and it only marks the first phase of what’s to come for the multi-billion-dollar IP. By this point, it’s no secret that Cameron and his team are working on multiple follow-ups that are in various stages of production. The prospect of more big-screen adventures set in Pandora is sure to be exciting for many fans, but others may wonder how these plans might impact any other cinematic endeavors Cameron wants to pursue. The acclaimed director/writer was asked whether he’s concerned that the series will consume the rest of his career, and he provided an honest response.

The 68-year-old director took part in a Q&A just recently, during which a host of entertainment industry titans, ranging from Sigourney Weaver to Robert Rodriguez. All of the queries were either insightful or just downright delightful, but one of the most interesting tidbits came from S. S. Rajamouli. The filmmaker (who helmed the spectacular RRR) was the one to ask James Cameron if he feels bad about possibly never telling certain stories due to his work with Avatar. In response, Cameron stated that he’s not concerned and shared his reasoning:

It’s true that the movie maker has indeed been able to bring his stories to life, even if he’s not actually the one sitting in the director’s chair. The two films he listed as examples amid Empire’s Q&A are also interesting due to the fact that they’ve resonated with people in major ways over the years. Strange Days didn’t wow critics and general audiences when it released in 1995, but it’s since become something of a cult classic. And 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel has definitely amassed a devoted fanbase, which is likely a major reason why James Cameron and co-producer Jon Landau are hoping to make a sequel.