On December 18, 2009, the movie “Avatar” was released to theaters in the US and surprised everyone with the level of quality it was able to achieve with its CGI. It was a technological marvel for the time, and what it meant was something groundbreaking for the future of what films would look like going forward. This wasn’t the only way the movie made its mark, either. After January 2010, the movie had become the highest-grossing movie of all time, making a whopping 2.9 billion dollars. That trend continued until “Avengers: Endgame” took the record from mid-2019 to early 2021, but Avatar has since reclaimed the top spot. With this being said, it’s no secret that the original film left a high bar to aspire to for any potential sequel. However, audiences would receive the answer to whether or not it could do so when “Avatar: Way of the Water” released on December 16, 2022.
It’s been a month following the premiere of the series’ newest film, and it’s been made pretty clear if the movie can compare to the original. “Avatar: Way of the Water” has not only done well, but has proved to be just as successful and groundbreaking as what was delivered in 2009. As similarly experienced with the first film, it has been endlessly praised for its visuals and technical achievements. Some were concerned with the fact that it may be much harder to surprise audiences with anything new, considering the many other advancements in visual effects that have occurred in recent years. However, “Avatar” once again managed to stand apart from the rest by creating something that was widely recognized as amazing.
Visuals aren’t the only way that the sequel matched the original, as “Avatar: Way of the Water” has proved to reach record-breaking commercial heights within the month that it has been out. With the estimated budget spanning from about 350 to 460 million dollars, this movie had to perform. It did so and more, becoming a major box office success grossing just about 2.055 billion dollars. The movie has become the highest-grossing film of 2022, the fifth-highest grossing film of all time, the sixth film to pass the 2 billion dollar mark, and the second-fastest to reach that point. All of these accolades were reached within a month. Needless to say, it has definitely lived up to the precedent that the original “Avatar” set.
After this 2nd film in the five part series that “Avatar” is gearing to be has done as well as it has, it shows that there is not only consistency in quality, but in interest for the franchise as time goes on. The two award-winning films that we have now are all but sure to be followed up by more movies in the future. As they come out, it will be interesting to see how they innovate and succeed in the evolving movie industry.