Avatar made its grand return to theaters this past weekend, but how did the movie perform nearly 13 years after originally arriving on the big screen? Well, the 3D blockbuster went straight to the #1 spot at the global box office, earning a respectable $30.5 million (comprising of $10 million domestically and $20.5 million internationally).
Re-released around most of the world, Avatar has reminded audiences of the amazing and immersive 3D world of Pandora leading into December’s highly anticipated release of Avatar: The Way of Water. The first film in the blockbuster franchise also added to its worldwide box office record as the highest-grossing film of all time, a record it briefly lost to Avengers: Endgame.
Here are some of the international box office highlights (via SFFGazette.com):
- Opened #1 in France, Italy, Belgium, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Slovenia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Ecuador.
- Opened as the #1 non-local title in Czech Rep, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam.
- Avatar (re-release) posted higher openings than Titanic (2012 3D re-release) in France, Brazil, Mexico, Qatar, Romania, Czech Rep, Israel, Turkey, Ukraine, Kuwait, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Chile, Colombia, Peru and many smaller European markets.
- Looking at like-for-like territories, the opening weekend of $20.5 million was higher than the entire run of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2022 re-release), +37% ahead of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (2012 3D re-release) and -19% below Titanic (2012 3D re-release), which opened during the Easter holidays.
- Internationally, around 75% of box office came from 3D/4D/IMAX formats, with many markets posting especially high % shares. As a comparison, Avengers: Endgame was around 27%.
And some domestic highlights:
- Avatar (re-release) opened #3 domestically with $10.0 million for the weekend.
- Playing in a select 1,860 theatres, Avatar’s $10.0 million weekend is +85% ahead of the re-release for Spider-Man: No Way Home from Labor Day weekend ($5.4 million from 3,935 theatres).
- The overwhelming 93% 3D share compares to the opening weekend of 2009’s Avatar (74% 3D | 26% 2D). The 3D support is encouraging considering the usual 2D-dominant shares of recent tentpoles released in both formats (Thor: Love and Thunder – 90% 2D | 10% 3D).
So, it was a pretty good return to theaters for Avatar, and we're sure these numbers were probably helped by the fact the movie was quietly removed from Disney+ earlier this year.
Most importantly, the clear level of interest in the re-release of a movie that came out nearly a decade and a half ago bodes well for Avatar: The Way of Water. We're sure filmmaker James Cameron will be buoyed by that, while Avatar has now increased its lead over Avengers: Endgame to remain the highest-grossing movie of all time by enough that it should remain unbothered at #1 for a very long time to come.
Did you watch Avatar on the big screen again this weekend? Let us know down in the comments section.
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