‘Avatar 2’ crosses Rs. 127 crore in opening weekend collection

James Cameron’s Avatar- The Way of Water has seen opening weekend collections of around Rs. 127.5 crore, according to film trade experts. This is lower than Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame that made Rs. 157.2 crore when released in 2019. 

At Rs. 40 crore, Avatar 2 had also clocked in lower opening day earnings than Endgame (Rs. 53.10 crore) that it was being pitched against.

Out of the Rs. 40 crore, south India brought in around Rs. 22.25 crore on opening day, while Hindi-speaking circuits contributed Rs.18 crore, making for a 55:45 ratio in favour of south India. Three-day collections in south India have touched Rs. 30 crore and the film could beat the lifetime record of Avengers: Endgame in the region by Monday.

In particular, Avatar has exceeded expectations in the Telugu-speaking markets of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh where it collected over Rs. 11 crore on day, according to trade website Box Office India, which was impressive for a film not headlined by a top Telugu movie star. 

The record for the highest Hollywood grosser in the Telugu market was held by Spider-Man: No Way Home that had made Rs. 5.5 crore on its first day last December but Avatar managed to double the number. In Kerala, Cameron’s film earned around Rs. 3 crore on opening day, twice as compared to Endgame.

Trade experts said Avatar’s earnings in Hindi-speaking markets are only 50% of Endgame, though some territories like Bihar, Assam and parts of central India are only 20-30% lower. Had the film performed as well in north India as it did in the south, it would have recorded opening day collections of Rs. 70-75 crore. Moreover, while Avatar doesn’t come with the young fan base of a Marvel film, its first part had done much better in south India, making way for the second instalment.

“Avatar 2 may appeal to a larger audience given the premise of family viewing versus Avengers’ youth-led audience,” Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital Ltd said. Movie consumption patterns have changed post covid, Taurani said, more films have reported big positive surprises, post ordinary openings. First-weekend collections accounted for 50% of lifetime collections in the pre-covid era, but this has now pared to 20-30% for a few films such as Kantara and Drishyam 2 as audience interest spiked only post strong positive word-of-mouth.

“A film such as Avatar 2 will also support metrics such as spend per head (SPH) or average ticket price (ATP) growth in Q3FY23. These are estimated to grow in 3-5% quarter-on-quarter range, respectively as films such as Avatar may boost the average ATP and SPH by 30% and 10% respectively,” Taurani said.

However, some industry experts point out the film hasn’t met expectations. Trade analyst Shaaminder Malik said the three multiplex chains, PVR, INOX and Cinepolis had made around Rs. 58 crore over the opening weekend from Avatar. “That said, the film hasn’t performed as per expectations. It is mostly being preferred in 3D and IMAX formats, rates for which are very high and not affordable for everyone. Plus, the film is pretty long and isn’t high on action,” Malik said. He added that a lot of single screen cinemas don’t have the infrastructure and technology to play the film at all.