‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Opens With $53 Million Amid Concerns It Needs to Gross $2 Billion to Break Even

Avatar: The Way of Water is off to the races.

Director James Cameron‘s long-awaited sequel to 2009′s blockbuster and record-setting Avatar arrived in theaters on Friday (December 16), and ticket sale information is starting to role in.

In an interview, James hinted that the film needed to gross a massive $2 billion in order to break even once he accounted for the amount it cost to shoot and promote his latest movie.

Is it on track to reach that sort of numbers?

Click inside to learn more about sales for Avatar: The Way of Water…

Variety reported that the latest movie in the Avatar franchise grossed $53 million domestically in its first day of release. The total does include sales of $17 million from Thursday showings.

It’s an impressive figure, but it falls behind films such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in terms of opening day domestic sales. Avatar: The Way of Water currently boasts the sixth-best figure of the year by that metric.

On a brighter note, ScreenRant reported that the film is pretty much guaranteed to become one of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year across the globe after only one weekend of release.

The publication cited estimates from Deadline that global sales will top out north of $400 million in that time frame with domestic numbers hitting as high as $150 million.

Early estimates had the movie selling around $135 domestically in its first weekend.

Have you wondered what the cast of the movie looks like in real life? Get a better look at them here!

Press play on the movie’s trailer below…