Imo, it’s because people expected a marvel style opening weekend. When it came under that it was described as a disappointment. The thing is that this is the type of movie to have strong legs, not...
Imo, it’s because people expected a marvel style opening weekend. When it came under that it was described as a disappointment. The thing is that this is the type of movie to have strong legs, not a big opening weekend. People have just been conditioned by the MCU to expect these huge opening weekends.
On top of that, don't Christmas-adjacent blockbuster releases typically trade huge opening weekends for longer legs? I never had a habit of seeing December movies on opening weekend, I'm just too...
On top of that, don't Christmas-adjacent blockbuster releases typically trade huge opening weekends for longer legs?
I never had a habit of seeing December movies on opening weekend, I'm just too busy this close to the holidays. But these movies usually do exceptionally well on their second, third, and even fourth weekends instead of gettign the huge second week drop you see with summer releases. Then January shows up, a notoriously slow month for movie releases, and all the holiday hold overs continue to clean up at the box office.
This was exactly how Titanic and Avatar made their record-breaking hauls. Neither had huge opening weekends. Both came out during the holiday season. Both clearly never skipped leg day.
In recent years the movies that release on Christmas (at least the blockbusters) have not been that leggy. Most of the Star Wars movies and Spider-Man. The only exceptions have been The Force...
In recent years the movies that release on Christmas (at least the blockbusters) have not been that leggy. Most of the Star Wars movies and Spider-Man. The only exceptions have been The Force Awakens and Aquaman.
So it’s been a while since people got used to blockbusters having these huge legs. Well, Top Gun just had holiday like legs during the summer but they view that as the exception.
It's the sequel to the highest grossing movie of all time. And until Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019 and took the number 2 spot, the number 2 movie was over $700 millions behind Avatar’s gross....
It's the sequel to the highest grossing movie of all time. And until Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019 and took the number 2 spot, the number 2 movie was over $700 millions behind Avatar’s gross. It was just so far ahead of any other movie that nothing else came close. And that movie that Endgame bumped out of the number 2 spot: Titanic...also from James Cameron.
So unless Avatar: Way of the Water literally set a new record for opening weekend, it was always going to be looked at as underperforming.
The sequel to “Avatar” cost a reported $350 million, so it won’t satisfy at the box office by simply putting up impressive numbers. According to Cameron, it needs to be one of the three or four top-grossing movies in history to break even and justify its exorbitant price tag.
How come I keep reading that this movie is underperforming? It has made half a billion dollars in 5 days. Do I just not understand box office stuff?
Imo, it’s because people expected a marvel style opening weekend. When it came under that it was described as a disappointment. The thing is that this is the type of movie to have strong legs, not a big opening weekend. People have just been conditioned by the MCU to expect these huge opening weekends.
On top of that, don't Christmas-adjacent blockbuster releases typically trade huge opening weekends for longer legs?
I never had a habit of seeing December movies on opening weekend, I'm just too busy this close to the holidays. But these movies usually do exceptionally well on their second, third, and even fourth weekends instead of gettign the huge second week drop you see with summer releases. Then January shows up, a notoriously slow month for movie releases, and all the holiday hold overs continue to clean up at the box office.
This was exactly how Titanic and Avatar made their record-breaking hauls. Neither had huge opening weekends. Both came out during the holiday season. Both clearly never skipped leg day.
In recent years the movies that release on Christmas (at least the blockbusters) have not been that leggy. Most of the Star Wars movies and Spider-Man. The only exceptions have been The Force Awakens and Aquaman.
So it’s been a while since people got used to blockbusters having these huge legs. Well, Top Gun just had holiday like legs during the summer but they view that as the exception.
It's the sequel to the highest grossing movie of all time. And until Avengers: Endgame came out in 2019 and took the number 2 spot, the number 2 movie was over $700 millions behind Avatar’s gross. It was just so far ahead of any other movie that nothing else came close. And that movie that Endgame bumped out of the number 2 spot: Titanic...also from James Cameron.
So unless Avatar: Way of the Water literally set a new record for opening weekend, it was always going to be looked at as underperforming.
Here's a good breakdown from Variety:
Notably it did not beat Minions or Top Gun.
FFS, these were insanely popular movies. What is it about blue people?
I just watched it and it was cool