Get ready for the Avatar Summer Tsunami. The Way of Water makes a big splash with 2022’s biggest opening weekend.

After a 13-year wait, James Cameron’s highly anticipated second instalment in the Avatar series, Avatar: The Way of Water, has finally hit cinemas across New Zealand.

The must-see cultural experience of the summer has delivered the perfect start on the big screen, with the film landing the biggest opening weekend of the year in New Zealand with 174,000 admissions from Wednesday – Sunday last week. It also delivered the fifth biggest opening weekend of all time.

Releasing in over 52 international markets, the film has hit $434.5M at the global box office since opening, $3.79M of which is at the New Zealand box office – a result that sees Avatar: The Way of Water outperforming the original Avatar’s New Zealand opening weekend box office result by +135%.

Audiences are set to build as the Christmas school holiday season kicks off. Critics and fans are in awe of Cameron’s latest blockbuster success, with the film securing an ‘A’ CinemaScore, alongside an incredible 93% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes. This will drive word-of-mouth and create continued strength at the box office over the summer.

Sales Director of Val Morgan Group NZ, Matt Tremain, attributes the success of the opening weekend to the pent-up excitement of the highly anticipated film and expects Avatar: The Way of Water to continue delivering strong admissions and box office dollars across the holiday period.

“With an incredible 174,000 flocking to cinemas within the first five days, we are absolutely thrilled to see Avatar: The Way of Water deliver the biggest opening weekend across New Zealand in 2022 and hit the huge milestone of the fifth-biggest opening weekend of all time.

James Cameron has done it again with another brilliant blockbuster masterpiece, and we’re so excited to see this film continue delivering admissions and box office dollars right across the summer period.”

Avatar: The Way of Water is one of four sequels in the Avatar series, with the third instalment expected to be released in December 2024, and movies 4 and 5 are planned for 2026 and 2028, respectively.

*Source: CineTam December 2022 (Wed-Sun)