'Avatar 2' crossed $1 billion, halfway to the mark James Cameron said it needs to break even. It will have to overcome 2 hurdles to do it.

Business Insider

“Avatar: The Way of Water” hit an important box-office milestone this week, crossing $1 billion at the global box office in two weeks.

• “Avatar: The Way of Water” has grossed over $1 billion at the global box office.
• But it may need to double that to reach the mark James Cameron has said it needs to break even.
• Ticket sales in China and the movie’s overall legs in the coming weeks could determine that.

But the sequel to the biggest movie of all time will need to overcome two key hurdles to double that number, a mark director James Cameron suggested it will need to be successful.

Cameron told GQ last month that “The Way of Water” will have to be “the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history” just to break even. The No. 4 biggest movie ever, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” grossed $2.07 billion.

If “The Way of Water” were to achieve that, it would put it in league with Cameron’s own “Titanic” (the No. 3 movie of all time) and “Avatar” (No. 1).

But one key market could decide that. The first “Avatar” was a smash hit in China, grossing about $262 million there, including a re-release last year.

“The Way of Water” is off to a slow start in the region, grossing $104 million there after two weekends. It could face slumping ticket sales in the coming weeks as the country deals with rising coronavirus cases.

It’s not just China where the movie needs to keep up momentum, though. The first “Avatar” was such a blockbuster because of its strong overall legs.