“Avatar: The Way of Water” is driving majority of 3D ticket sales

• ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ has already made $435 million in its first weekend.
• An estimated 66% of the opening weekend sales came from 3D ticket sales.
• China appears to be the market leading the 3D sales for the new movie.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, the long-awaited and eagerly awaited sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 record-breaking hit, is breaking box office records and has already made $435 million in its first weekend.

Seeing the ground-breaking visuals in 3D, which the sequel also offers moviegoers the chance to do, was one of the most thrilling aspects of the original film’s 13-year-old premiere.

According to recent projections based on data from Comscore, an estimated 66% of the opening weekend sales for The Way of Water came from 3D ticket sales, even 13 years after the 3D trend peaked. For many moviegoers seeing The Way of Water, the desire to see Pandora up close and personal still holds strong.

According to these predictions, China appears to be the market leading the 3D sales for the new movie, with an anticipated 99% of all moviegoers there viewing Avatar: The Way of Water in the 3D format.

In North America, an estimated 58% of moviegoers bought 3D tickets, and 66% of the audience this week watched the movie in 3D abroad.

Based on this information, the movie’s opening weekend worldwide 3D box office earnings were just over $287 million, while its domestic box office earnings were just over $77.7 million.

According to Travis Reid, CEO and President of Cinema of RealD, the largest 3D firm in the world, “Avatar: The Way of Water has established a new benchmark for the current 3D market, much like the original Avatar did.

“James Cameron and his team have shown what is artistically, creatively, and commercially possible when you have filmmakers completely committed to immersing audiences in this 3D world and the result is visually mind-blowing. We expect to continue to see strong 3D results worldwide thru the holiday and new year.”

The domestic box office total of $135 million is remarkable, even surpassing the weekend total of Top Gun: Maverick ($126 million), which has since become the highest-grossing movie of the year, but it falls short of the $150 to $175 million range that it was anticipated to begin with.

Even if the domestic debut of this movie is higher than that of the original Avatar, which later went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time, a strong but less-than-expected start doesn’t guarantee a strong final performance.

It is feasible that the format will attract in more viewers for many viewings like the first film did because viewers still want to experience the magnificence of Pandora in 3D, but we will have to wait and see if the format’s appeal is still as strong as it was more than ten years ago.

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