The battle betweenAvatar: The Way of WaterandTop Gun: Maverickwas hard fought, butAvatar 2looks to have taken first place for the highest-grossing film at the 2022 global box office. Despite the time between the originalTop GunandAvatarfilms, audiences were still excited about their respective sequels, hoping that the new films would live up to their expectations and what was universally praised about the first ones.
Avatar: The Way of Waterwas set to make one billiondollars less than ten days after its release. The box office fight was not easy forAvatar 2to win, but according to recent reports, theAvatarsequel has surpassed theTop Gunsequel, showing that some battles are better fought in the water than in the air.
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According to a report byThe Hollywood Reporter,Avatar: The Way of Waterhas now grossed more money at the box office thanTop Gun: Maverickto become the highest-grossing film of 2022. The report goes on to express thatAvatargained $454 million domestically and crossed $1 billion internationally, adding up to $1.51 billion worldwide, compared toTop Gun: Maverick’s $1.49 billion worldwide profit since its May 2022 release. However,Spider-Man: No Way Homeis still at the top of theatrical releases during the pandemic, as it reigns with $1.916 billion worldwide.Comparing box office numbers betweenAvatarandTop Gun, the James Cameron sequel crossed a billion within two weeks, contrasted toTop Gun, which took a month to get there.
Between theAvatarfilms andTitanic, Cameron is now the first director to have the most films cross $1.5 billion at the box office. Even so, during a press junket, the director described that theAvatarsequel would need to make $2 billion to be considered a success, as the movie is one of the most expensive films ever made, with an overall budget of $600 million, including marketing for the film. Cameron said thethirdAvatarfilm could close out the trilogyifThe Way of Waterhad not performed well, but it seems like it is on track to be a success because there are currently a total of four films planned in theAvatarsaga.
Perhaps most interesting is that theAvatarsequel is 30 minutes longer than its predecessor, which seems to shatter the narrative that longer movies make less money at the box office. Logistically, longer movies mean there are fewer showings in a day, but if the movie is good, audiences will still show up at theaters to watch.
