Avatar: The Way of Water is the highly anticipated sequel to the original 2009 blockbuster. The first movie earned over $2.9 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of all time.
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Both films are directed by industry veteran James Cameron, known for many popular film franchises, including Aliens and Terminator, amongst others. Cameron is betting a lot on this sequel, as he told publications it was “very f***ing” expensive to create.
Rumors have speculated the film’s budget to be more than $250 million. Although these estimations have yet to be confirmed, Cameron has stated that Avatar: The Way of Water had “the worst business case in movie history” and that the sequel would need to rank in the top 5 highest-grossing films to “break even.”
This means that the film would need to perform better financially than major competitors such as Avengers: Endgame ($2.7 billion), Titanic ($2.2 billion), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.07 billion).
In an interview with Total Film, Cameron indicated that the success of both Avatar: The Way of Water and Avatar 3 will determine whether he will make the planned fourth and fifth movies.
According to Cameron, “the market could be telling us we’re done in three months, or we might be semi-done, meaning: ‘OK, let’s complete the story within movie three, and not go on endlessly,’ if it’s just not profitable.”
Currently, Avatar: The Way of Water will be hitting theaters on December 16, with the third film due in 2024. The two other sequels are projected, with Avatar 4 for December 2026 and Avatar 5 for December 2028.