In a weekend of unexpected results, a weaker Asia-Pacific opening weekend for Marvel Studios’ super-sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is working to the benefit of Avatar: The Way of Water, helping boost James Cameron’s sci-fi sequel past the filmmaker’s own previous blockbuster Titanic as the third-highest grossing movie in cinema history.
Britain Dalton stars in “Avatar: The Way of Water”
Avatar: The Way of Water now sits at $2.2444 billion, compared to Titanic’s $2.2431 billion. The next-highest grossing film of all time is Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens at #5 with $2.07 billion, distant enough that any new challengers on the box office charts has a lot of empty territory to cover after passing #5 and looking to steal Titanic’s position on the charts.
I had expected Titanic to enjoy a stronger play internationally because I thought Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would generate a bigger turnout overseas and especially in China, which I expected would primarily draw viewership away from Avatar: The Way of Water. But Marvel’s latest sequel came in far below everyone’s estimates, with a major shortfall in the Middle Kingdom and other markets typically crucial to the MCU’s success. And enough of those viewers seem to have chosen The Way of Water to give it the advantage needed to overtake Titanic at last.
This has been a long winter season of broken records and surpassed expectations for Avatar: The Way of Water. The press and much of cinema fandom seemed eager to witness a big flop as proof of the widely repeated but false notion that Avatar was somehow not really all that important or lasting as an influence on film or culture. One ceiling after another was broken — first $1 billion, then $1.5 billion, then $1.8 billion, then $2 billion, then $2.2 billion.
I myself broke the cardinal rule (which I repeat to others constantly) not to doubt James Cameron and his ability to defy odds and beat expectations to great success, and came to believe Avatar and the Way of Water was losing steam and lacked enough momentum to carry it over the final hurdle to replace Titanic in the #3 spot.
Yet here we are, exactly where James Cameron told us we’d be — Avatar: The Way of Water is now the third-highest grossing movie of all time, the sequels will all come (as they surely would anyway, to be realistic, but it’s certainly unquestionable now) and will be enormous hits because yes there is a huge global audience who love the franchise and who want more of it, as part of the enduring legacy and cultural impact of the first Avatar and now the second Avatar film.
And lest anyone feel sorry for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, rest assured that even with this performance admittedly 10% or more below lower-end expectations, it’s still the biggest opening for the franchise and the film will surely be the biggest yet in the series, so it’s still a win for Marvel.
Maybe the lack of Marvel content for a few years has resulted in a comedown in enthusiasm for the studio’s new phases. Maybe the audience hunger for this sort of storytelling was already filled — and refilled with repeat viewing — of Avatar: The Way of Water. Maybe there is simply been an overload of entertainment the past few months in some markets and people gorged themselves too much after a long period of pandemic closures and reduced attendance in theaters. Maybe it’s a combination of degrees of these things, plus lots of other nuanced factors.
Whatever the case, Disney has reason to both feel a bit frustrated and also elated at the overall weekend results and news, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still scoring a big opening that’s a record for the franchise, while Avatar: The Way of Water just won’t quit and keeps climbing box office charts while defying odds.
Titanic, meanwhile, has secured a pretty strong footing at #4 on the all-time global box office list, and as I noted earlier any film wanting to replace it will have to be a formidable contender on par with the biggest Avengers movies or Avatar sequels.
Check back here again soon, dear readers, for more box office news and updates for you about Avatar: The Way of Water, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Titanic, plus more movie reviews and coverage of the spring and upcoming summer movie season. And if you venture out to theaters this weekend, please remember to mask up — there’s still a pandemic, and we’re still all in this together, so help protect those with compromised immune systems or who might otherwise be at risk of severe health outcomes from infection with Covid, flu, or other illnesses.
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