Avatar The Way of Water set to cross $1 bn in just 12 days, closer to becoming 3rd highest-grossing film of 2022: Report

Avatar: The Way of Water, directed by James Cameron is all set to hit the $1 billion mark at the global box office in a span of just 12 days since its release on December 16. The 2009 prequel Avatar still stands as the highest-grossing film of all time. (Also read: Avatar 2 faces boycott calls from activists for native accusations of racism and culture appropriation)

Despite the film opening below expectations in its opening weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water is turning out to be a big box office success. By the second Monday, the James Cameron film had made $955 million, which points to the direction that the film will reach the billion mark by the end turnout of Tuesday, reports Deadline. If that happens then Avatar: The Way of Water will surpass the box office total of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($955 million) and become the third-highest-grossing movie of the year after Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion. Notably, it took 31 days for Top Gun: Maverick to hit the $1 billion mark, and more than four months for Jurassic World Dominion to reach the mark. With its massive production budget of around $350–460 million, the film needs to gross another billion to set an even mark.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has released 13 years after the 2009 original film. The sequel follows Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) as they try and protect their kids from the return of the Skypeople and Colonel Quaritch (Steven Lang) who is hell-bent on revenge. The film also introduces a new water tribe of the Na’vi called the Metkayina.

Avatar: The Way of Water, which released globally on December 16, also stars Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco and Jemaine Clement. In India, the film has been released in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Plans are already underway for the next two installments in the Avatar franchise to continue the saga of the Na’vi tribes of Pandora.

The film has been nominated for two awards at next year’s Golden Globes. It is up for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director for James. The sci-fi feature has also been named one of the ten best films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute.