“Avatar: The Way of Water” continued its uneven box office career in mainland China with a fourth weekend at the top of the charts.
According to consulting firm Artisan Gateway, the film earned $16.5 million (RMB 114 million) between Friday and Sunday. That represented 55% of the nationwide box office takings for the weekend.
As of Sunday night, the film has had a cumulative total of more than US$189 million (RMB1.31 billion), making it the highest-grossing Hollywood film of 2022 to be released in China.
It’s a sum that seemed unlikely just a few weeks ago, and Maoyan ticketing agency has revised upwards its forecast for the film’s final estimated total to RMB 1.5 billion, or about US$225 million.
Approval for the release of “Avatar 2” in China came soon enough for distributors to launch a comprehensive marketing campaign, book theaters and synchronize with theatrical release in North America and other territories.
The Chinese government’s subsequent decision to lift most of its anti-COVID controls was initially read as further impetus for the film. But as health measures were scaled back, the disease was allowed to permeate the population. This led to some people staying away from the cinemas while others enjoyed their newfound freedom.
The film grossed $51.8 million in its first weekend, which was both impressive compared to the Chinese cinema industry’s recent malaise and falling short of many expectations.
Weekend sales halved on the second weekend (December 23-25, 2022), but then rebounded sharply on the weekend of December 30, 2022-January 2022. January 2023. Third weekend earnings in China totaled $36.3 million.
The film’s dominance is likely to continue into next weekend as there are few significant new titles that can challenge it for the big screen. However, the following weekend marks the start of the Chinese New Year and a likely refresher in the stock offering.
Last weekend, Maoyan Weiying’s “Better Man” grossed $5.8 million to bring its total since December 31 to $29.0 million. In third place, Wanda Pictures’ “Someday or One Day” earned $4.7 million for a total of $46.5 million as of December 24.
The Japanese animated film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero grossed 5.9 million RMB (about US$850,000) when it debuted.
DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which was released in China on December 23, grossed an additional RMB5.6 million (US$810,000). It now has a total value of US$2.9 million (RMB 20.1 million).