James Cameron is going to lose a lot of money on his Avatar: The Way of Water!

First of, yes I went and watch The Way of Water in IMAX and what this movie has going for is looking pretty but everything else with the story is give or take. Sadly for Avatar 2, the budget on the film is $350 million and it gets worst, Friday's box office numbers were really bad, and Disney may end up losing a lot more money on this than Strange World.

It’s now estimated Avatar 2 will be lucky to hit $150 million for the weekend with even $120 million possible.

Regarding the Friday box office, which includes the $17 million from Thursday, Avatar 2 is estimated to bring in only $55 million. Link: Avatar 2: The Way of Water Bombing With Friday Box Office

But there is light at the end of this tunnel. Keep in mind that the first Avatar opening weekend was only $77 million and whether this movie is a success will depend on how good it's staying power is. The upside is that there is nothing big on the horizon until Antman: Quantumania. So that gives it plenty of time to soak up really expensive IMAX 3D sales.

So OT, did you go see Avatar 2? Did you get the WOW factor in?

Will go when the cinema is emptier, maybe Tuesday after next.

As much as I'd love to see James Cameron take the big L, this movie will have legs in the international box office much like the first one. It's too early to tell how this one will shape.

They say they want something like 2 billion for this movie to be successful, which I find absolutely ridiculous. The age of billion dollar movies should come to an end.

I saw it Friday with my friends. It was a decent film. I liked the "family" aspect of it, but there were quite a few things that were off. The CGI at times wasn't that great either. :/ No visible spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it's leaning way more heavily in the religious aspect. I know the first one had a little bit of it, but this one goes full on with it.

@davillain: movie theater viewing was in decline before covid, then it pretty much died. There’s already copies online too.

@Skarwolf: Also, second movie, even well made, usually sells less than the first, all the way back to Empire Strikes Back.

@warm_gun: my friend saw second said it was very… meh. Usual humans bad blue guys good. If it weren’t for colonial powers we’d still be throwing spears.

Do agree the world is too idealized. Has a case of greener on the other side. With species that defy logic. Enjoyed the original when it was released again this year way more than the DC and Marvel shit people call movies, though. James Cameron knows how to build big expensive sci fi worlds, understands plot structure. Was also the only 3D movie I ever watched that looked good, so of course I'm seeing it theatrically. Shame 3D is dead in the home and I'll never get to experience the first movie that way again.

I’ll probably just wait and get it on blu-ray when it comes out.

doubt i'll ever see it.

I'm probably going to see it this week. Mostly interested in the visual effects and CGI quality which is supposed to be great in 3D. I don't expect myself to care about the narrative.

Update:

It is all about the legs, so let's see how it is midway through January 2023 as there's really not much going on for January until Antman 3 hits February 2023.

Can't say I'm surprised as piracy in the movie industry is still a problem but oh well.

Maybe. This may well be the first movie in history to make over a $1 billion and still be considered a flop.

Not interested. The first one was enough.

Was interested in watching it, but I am not sure. The first one was decent but predictable, and that dolphin show stunt was a massive turn-off.

Still should be a better movie than the marvel trash either way.

@comp_atkins: "doubt i'll ever see it."

Ditto

@DEVILinIRON: "The first one was enough."

What was the 1st one about?

No, I don't think I will see it. The first movie had a terrible story too, wasn't expecting the sequel to be better.

Avatars and robot suits and blue and green colors, and lots of meaningful CGI glances. There was a Fern Gully plot. The biggest draw for me was the 3D. But it was long and boring in parts. Would rather watch The Norseman again, if it were still in theaters.

Blue aliens live in harmony on the planet of Pandora.

Humans discover precious resources on this planet and go commando on blue space people. A big tree gets destroyed and really strikes a nerve with blue space people.

Blue space people defend and fight off humans.

The end.

It was a disappointment. I saw this movie 13 years ago, the only difference was, it took place in a forest instead of water.

I have absolutely no idea why, plot wise, we need four films of this.

di$ney gotta milk that cow to death

Avatar was always Ferngully but even I can say Avatar did alright but a sequel wasn't really needed IMO but whatever.

Yeah. The first one was alright. But I wouldn't watch it again. I'd rather play the pinball machine.

I liked the first one a lot so I will pick up the sequel on blu ray.

If there's one thing the pandemic taught me, it's that I would much rather watch any movie in the comfort of my home instead of the theater.

It's basically a retread of the first film. The only differences are very slight. So slight that instead of going for Unobtainium, they're going for this chemical. Instead of being in the "forest," they're living by the ocean. Other than that, it's beat for beat the same movie. Someone described what Cameron is doing as "a tech demo."

The only thing that I liked about this movie was the characters, more particularly the children, and the main baddy of the film was more fleshed out and likable.

I thought Cameron had that plan long before Disney bought Fox.

Oh yes. Indeed he did.

https://ew.com/article/2016/04/14/avatar-james-cameron-four-sequels/

It's bought in $550 million now:

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/avatar-the-way-of-water-box-office-550-million-1235467215/#article-comments

Still a ways to go, but could have the necessary legs.

Went to see it yesterday. A messy movie. Pretty (though not that much prettier than the first one)...but messy. For quite a chunk of the movies i was just thinking "why does this exist? What is it adding?".

The film is already at $1 billion.

@girlusocrazy: Yes. Just saw your post, duh. But yeah I'd love to see a sequel to Alita. I agree.

Wasn't it evident even before the pandemic? The pros of viewing a picture in the theater have been gone for decades. All that's left are extreme cons making home an even better position.

I liked first one more. Though it is probably because Pandora was still new in the first movie. Pandora is the real main character of the movies and it is gorgeous. Plan from the start was 5 movies. First 4 would focus on one of the elements: earth, water, fire and air. And then in the 5th we'll have final showdown between all 4 Navi tribes and humans.

First movies was about earth - forests and some mountains. Second was water. Next two are about air and fire.

It's a good thing he named it Avatar then. Lol

There will be no way to watch James Cameron's new movies at home in variable 48/24 frames and 3D. Ultra HD disc only supports 50/25 frames a second and 2D. (Can't have the HFR parts in 50 and the standard parts in 24. That will look weird.) Streaming doesn't fare better. They could insert a black frame every 25th of a second and have the movie play slightly shorter at home, but I'm sure they won't, because of "compatibility reasons."

Listened for years about how bad HFR in movies is. Knew all the time that the viewers were full of it and finally confirmed it with Avatar 2 a week ago. It looks good. The judder in the 24 frame parts really highlighted how dated that hundred-something year old bare minimum is, that has stuck largely because it's cheap. I acknowledge that Cameron may not have taken care to shoot the 24 frame parts in a way that avoided judder, since he was probably prioritizing the 48 frame parts to the point of being negligent with the rest, but that's not a defense for 24 frames either. It just points out how limited the people behind the cameras are in how they can shoot. People compared high framerate to soap operas, which shows how empty their complaints were. Soap operas look cheap because of everything else, not because of the framerate. Then there is the equally lame complaint that HFR makes movies look too real. Excuses, excuses, when they could have simply said, "It's what I'm used to."

Yeah. I think Cameron got some inspiration from the other Avatar. And it seems that he has revealed that Avatar 3 will be about the Fire Navis.

Avatar 3 will also come out in 2050 when he's made of robot parts.