Avatar 2 hits $217m in US

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is dominating a subdued Christmas weekend at the box office. The epic science-fiction made $19.5 million on its second Friday, with an estimated $55 million from the three-day weekend and $82 million from the four-day extended weekend. With more than $250 million expected by Sunday, this raises the movie’s overall domestic total to $217 million, according to Collider.

The film broke box office records and ultimately finished as the highest-grossing film of all time.

That film’s current global haul stands at an astounding $2.9 billion. Produced on a reported budget of around $400 million, the sequel isn’t expected to match the first film’s performance, but will have to finish with at least $2 billion to break even, Cameron has said.

The first Avatar famously opened low, but displayed unprecedented legs over several months. The Way of Water is currently pacing ahead of Avatar, but mainly because it made significantly more in its opening weekend. At the same point, the first film had made $160 million domestically, but crucially, it dropped by just 13% on its second Friday (The Way of Water fell by 63%). With a projected 59% second weekend drop, The Way of Water is faring better than most modern blockbusters, but by the first film’s standards, that’s a steep fall.