'Avatar: The Way of Water' makes less than half of what 'RRR' made on opening weekend

Hollywood film Avatar: The Way of Water has collected nearly Rs 130 crore in net collections during its first weekend in India across all languages, less than half of the Rs 320 crore collected by the third highest-ever grossing film in India, SS Rajamouli’s RRR. 

Trade portal Sacnilk pegs the Avatar sequel’s collection in the first three days at Rs 128.8 crore – Rs 40.3 crore on Friday (December 16), Rs 42.5 crore on Saturday (December 17) and Rs 46 crore on Sunday (December 18).  

In fact, RRR collected more in one day than what Avatar 2 has done in three days, going by Sacnilk data. The Rajamouli film made Rs 133 crore on Day 1, Rs 88.7 cr on Day 2 and Rs 102.3 crore on Day 3.   

Titanic director James Cameron's sequel to his 2009 blockbuster film Avatar is on track to make Rs 500-600 crore in net lifetime collections in India across the languages it is released in, according to analyst estimates. The film is vying for the fourth spot among the films with highest-ever net collections in India after Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (Rs 1,030 crore, 2017), KGF: Chapter 2 (Rs 860 crore, 2022) and RRR (Rs 772 crore, 2022).  

But analysts expect the film to have a long shelf life given its promise of a family-oriented visual splendour, which may drive up its collections. “Avatar 2 is one of those films which will have a reasonable start and, in a best-case scenario, word of mouth can make it surpass Rs 700 crore,” Elara Capital Senior Vice-President Karan Taurani had told Business Today.   

Besides, the tickets are priced exorbitantly, going up to even Rs 1,900 per ticket in Bengaluru multiplexes in the IMAX format, according to ticket booking portal Bookmyshow.com.  

The film has been made on an estimated $250-$350 million budget, with director Cameron saying in a recent interview that the film has to make $2 billion in worldwide gross just to break even. It has released in 2D, 3D, 3D ScreenX, 4DX 3D and IMAX 3D in English, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in more than 3,000 screens in India.   

Also read: Avatar-The Way of Water box office collection Day 2: James Cameron's film surpasses Day 1, collects over Rs 40 cr

Also read: Avatar 2 weekend box office collection: James Cameron's film rakes in Rs 3,598 cr worldwide, collects over Rs 133 cr in India