When it was first announced that Avatar: The Way of Water would be one of the few American films to screen in China in years, some thought it might help the movie recoup part of its gargantuan budget in spite of a soft audience response in other markets. Unfortunately, Chinese audiences aren’t connecting with this three hour plus waterlogged return to Pan-bore-ya, either.
Yahoo News reports that Avatar: The Way of Water earned a paltry $80 million from China in eight days. The film started with just $57 million from its opening weekend and— much like how audiences feel about two hours into the movie with no end in sight— things went downhill from there. To put this into perspective (and before anyone starts coming up with pandemic excuses), Moon Man debuted over the summer to a $130 million opening, and it ended up just a hair shy $300 million by its second weekend.
Things aren’t looking much better stateside. While some insiders were predicting a $175 million plus opening weekend in the US, not everyone was convinced and offered up a more sober estimate of $150 million or less. The film ended up just above $134 million after its first 4 days in theaters. It’s since earned roughly $63.6 million in the past week.
Will this beached whale of a film eventually return to the sea and end up finding its audience and earning the $2 billion that director James Cameron says it needs in order to break even? Probably not in China. Or the US.
Stay tuned to Conskipper for complete coverage of all things Avatar as soon as it breaks!