Avatar The Way of Water box office day 3 collection: Film zooms past ₹100 crore in India, $435 million worldwide

Avatar: The Way of Water has continued its golden run at the Indian box office for the third day in a row. After a strong opening and decent growth on Saturday, the film registered marginal growth on Sunday as well, easily crossing the ₹100-crore mark in nett collections from across India. Overseas, the film has performed below expectations, registering a $435 million global first weekend, below the projected $500-million mark. Also read: Akshay Kumar says Avatar 2 left him ‘spellbound’, praises ‘genius’ James Cameron

Directed by James Cameron, Avatar The Way of Water is the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster Avatar and the second of a planned five-film franchise. Avatar remains the highest-grossing film of all time with almost $3 billion in gross box office earnings. The sequel has widely been expected to follow suit and break records at the box office.

As per industry trader Sacnilk, The Way of Water earned ₹43.40 crore in India on Sunday, taking its overall pan-India opening weekend nett haul to ₹126.20 crore. This includes earnings of ₹65 crore from the English version alone. No Bollywood film has been able to register these numbers in the first three days all year. In fact, only two Indian films – KGF Chapter 2 and RRR – have done better business in India in their respeopening weekend this year.

Globally, however, The Way of Water has performed below what was expected. Before release, industry insiders had estimated the film should cross $500 million in its opening weekend in terms of gross worldwide collection. However, as per Box Office Mojo, the film has managed only around $435 million in its first three days. The number is far from disappointing though as it ensures it may cross $1.5 billion in its lifetime and may even push for a $2-billion haul. However, given the film’s scale, some feel the number is lower than what it should earn.

Avatar: The Way of Water brings back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver from the first film while also adding Kate Winslet this time around. With 52,000 screens across the globe, it is the widest release ever in cinema history.