2023's Superhero Movies Make Avatar 2's Box Office Look Even Better

[Nergal]

 

As the third highest-grossing movie of all time, it'd be hard to make Avatar: The Way of Water's box office look much better than it already does, but 2023's superhero movies flopping reveals just how special the Avatar sequel's box office run really is. Leading up to its release, there was doubt over Avatar: The Way of Water's box office potential, but considering the performance of James Cameron's past few movies, it was clear skeptics weren't seeing the full picture; however, but now that 2023s superhero movies are bombing at the box office, it's a lot more clear what makes Avatar: The Way of Water so special.

When it released on December 16, 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water only made $134.1 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, but over the next few months it slowly crept up to $682.7 million domestically and $2.3 billion globally to become the third highest-grossing movie of all time behind the original Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. This long-tail box office performance stands in sharp contrast to the way other blockbusters behave in the modern theatrical environment, and 2023's superhero flops highlight that fact.

Avatar: The Way of Water's Box Office Reverses Major Box Office Trends
 

 

In past decades, movies earned a much larger percentage of their total box office revenue in the weeks and months after their release, but that ratio has shifted more and more toward favoring the opening weekend box office to the point that nine out of the top 10 box office performers in 2022 (excluding Avatar: The Way of Water) saw an average total box office earnings hit a multiplier of 2.92 times their opening weekend. Meanwhile, Avatar: The Way of Water's $682.7 million give it a 5.09 multiplier. For comparison, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has a multiplier of 2 and Shazam: Fury of the Gods has a multiplier of 1.89.

Avatar 2 is Outperforming Ant-Man 3 and Shazam 2 at the Box Office Despite Being in Theaters For Months
 

 

Avatar: The Way of Water is making way more at the box office than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Shazam: Fury of the Gods isn't a huge deal or a fair comparison on its own, but the way it's making that money is important. Despite being in theaters for 17 weeks, Avatar: The Way of Water actually outperformed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Easter weekend, earning $528,114 compared to Quantumania's $333,682 in its 8th weekend. Shazam 2 is still ahead of The Way of Water in its fifth weekend, but it only brought in $1.8 million, meaning it could fall behind in the next week or two.

While Avatar: The Way of Water's exceptional box office legs stand out against other 2022 and 2023 movies, especially superhero movies like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, it's impressive to note Top Gun: Maverick actually outperformed Avatar 2 at the domestic box office, only falling behind it globally thanks to weaker international numbers. The massive success of non-superhero isn't necessarily a sign of "superhero fatigue," but it's still a good sign to see movies with broader audience appeal doing as well as Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick.