Corona put the brakes on “Avatar” in China
The new movie “Avatar” has been highly praised by Chinese viewers who have seen it, but concerns about public health conditions and the corona virus have caused lower than expected sales of this movie in Chinese cinemas.
Charso Press: “Avatar by Water” opened in China over the weekend with $57.1 million, an opening that would have been a heroic comeback for Hollywood in China’s turbulent market, had the film been made by someone other than James Cameron.
Based on initial estimates and interest from Chinese audiences, “Avatar 2” was expected to open with more than $100 million in China, but the growing spread of Covid-19 in Beijing and other major cities seems to have dampened audience acceptance, and analysts now They believe that the film’s performance will be determined by its long run rather than a big opening sale.
Rance Pao, Regional Managing Director of Artisan Gateway, a box office consulting firm, says: China’s cinema industry continues to operate under the impact of Covid, with a significant impact on initial estimates, including people’s reluctance to return to public spaces. including cinemas, but the long-term release of “Avatar 2” may work against this trend. “However, the film scores very well on social media, James Cameron has a huge following in China, and his films have a solid track record in China.”
On Friday, Chinese app Maoyan predicted that Avatar 2 would gross $360 million (2.51 billion yuan). Forecasters had good reason to be optimistic as the film surpassed the advance sales set by the Chinese film Battle of Shangan Lake 2. The Chinese film grossed more than $100 million on its first day in February and ended up grossing $626 million. But by Sunday, Maoyan’s total forecast for Avatar 2 had fallen to $143 million (RMB 1 billion), showing how unreliable the usual indicators have become amid uncertainty over public health conditions.
Nevertheless, Chinese audiences who have seen “Avatar: The Way of Water” so far have received this film very well. Made by “James Cameron” has received a very good score from users and movie critics in China.
“James Cameron” previously announced that the cost of making the sequel to “Avatar” was so high that this film is doomed to sell more than two billion dollars at the global box office in order to recover the production costs.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is the sequel to the original 2009 film Avatar, which grossed $2.9 billion and remains the highest-grossing film in cinema history.
James Cameron has spent years making and filming the sequels of Avatar. The shooting of “Avatar: The Water Way” began in 2017 and at the same time as the third film in this series, which is scheduled to be released in 2024. He is also working on a fourth and fifth film, which are slated for release in 2026 and 2028, respectively.
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