Avatar: The Way of Water keeps a tight grip on the No. 2 slot this weekend at the domestic box office despite increasing wide release competition.
Avatar: The Way of Water keeps a strong grip on the No. 2 slot in the box office for the second weekend in a row. The film, which debuted on December 16, 2022, is the first sequel to the 2009 megahit Avatar. Original director James Cameron was on hand to direct a cast that includes returning stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver in a new adventure that sees the humans returning to the Na’vi’s isolated moon of Pandora.
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Per Deadline, Avatar: The Way of Water is projected to close out the weekend at No. 2 in the domestic box office chart, behind Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The belated Avatar sequel is holding strong, continuing its two-week streak at No. 2 (last week Magic Mike’s Last Dance took No. 1). This comes after the film took a sharp dip to No. 3 two weeks ago behind premiering wide releases Knock at the Cabin and 80 for Brady.
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What Will be the Next Movie to Give Avatar 2 Real Competition?
Much like last year’s astounding smash hit Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water seems to be able to withstand quite a buffeting at the box office. Although it seems inevitable that any weekend from now on will see a new wide release take No. 1, Avatar 2 is persistently remaining in the Top 3. It will eventually drop to the Top 5, and likely spend quite a few weeks hanging on there as well.
There likely won’t be another film that truly tests Avatar: The Way of Water‘s box office might until March. The next few weekends will probably see Ant-Man 3 consistently tracking above The Way of Water, but there doesn’t seem to be any danger of it dropping below No. 3 for some time. Next weekend’s release of the viral action-comedy Cocaine Bear might even see that new wide release opening below both titles if the online buzz fails to get people into theaters.
After Cocaine Bear, there lies a gauntlet of new films that will almost definitely have the power to keep Avatar: The Way of Water at No. 3. However, March 3’s Creed III and March 10’s Scream 6 and 65 are a few major releases that are likely to know the film down a few slots. It’s not until March 17 and the release of Shazam! Fury of the Gods that there’s a strong chance for the film to sink to No. 4 or even No. 5.