AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) CEO Adam Aron said his predictions were easily surpassed as Avatar: The Way of Water exceeded $570.3 million domestically.
Adam Aron said on Twitter last week, “Next week, it has a good short of hitting $550 million domestic, $1.8 BILLION worldwide. Those who say movie theatres are an anachronism or dead are wrong, wrong, wrong.”
The CEO says the blockbuster movie could exceed $600 in domestic ticket sales and $1.8 billion globally.
The Avatar sequel’s fifth-week performance means it is now the 13th highest-grossing movie of all time at the U.S. box office, overtaking 2008’s The Dark Knight and 2019’s Lion King remake, according to Box Office Mojo.
While it remains at the same spot as last week in the worldwide all-time rankings, the movie is expected to overtake Spider-Man: No Way Home sometime this week and begin closing in on Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
Cameron has previously stated that Avatar: The Way Of Water needs to earn around $2 billion just to break even. The sequel’s steep budget however includes the cost of filming Avatar 3 and developing the scripts for a fourth and fifth film.
U.S. Box Office Rankings – Friday to Monday (est.)
- Avatar: The Way Of Water (Week 5) — $38.5 million
- MEG3N (Week 2) — $21.2 million
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Week 4) — $17.3 million
- A Man Called Otto (Week 3) — $15 million
- Plane (Week 1) — $11.6 million
- House Party (Week 1) — $4.4 million
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Week 10) — $2.6 million
- The Whale (Week 6) — $1.8 million
- Whitney Houston: I wanna Dance With Somebody (Week 4) — $1.3 million
- Waltair Veerayya (Week 1) — $1.2 million
Movie titles continue to bring in millions of dollars despite Wall Street doomsayers short on the industry.
At some point, the narrative has to change.
Sources say Amazon is planning to invest $1 billion per year in the movie theatre industry.
The world’s largest online retailer aims to make between 12 and 15 movies annually that will get a theatrical release.
Amazon is still sorting out this strategy said people who asked not to be identified.
That number of releases puts Amazon on par with major studios such as Paramount Pictures, says Bloomberg.
Streaming Services Aren’t Enough
As “Avatar: The Way of Water” gets closer to the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office, James Cameron says it’s a reminder that moviegoers still value the theatrical experience in an era of streaming dominance.
“I’m thinking of it in the terms of we’re going back to theaters around the world. They’re even going back to theaters in China where they’re having this big COVID surge. We’re saying as a society, ‘We need this! We need to go to theaters.’ Enough with the streaming already! I’m tired of sitting on my ass. Source: Variety.
The sequel to Johnson’s popular “Knives Out” opened in nearly 700 theaters, the largest release of any Netflix original film to date, 200 of which were AMC Entertainment theatres.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery starring Daniel Craig was released in the U.S. as well as the UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
The film earned $15 million at the box office but CNBC says the showing could have made $200 million if it had been kept in theatres longer.
Unfortunately for the online streaming platform, hundreds of millions of dollars were left on the table.
Box office analysts say Glass Onion could have earned much higher earnings if Netflix had opted for a traditional wide release of 2,000 to 4,000 theaters.
CNBC stated, “Netflix has backtracked on its previous policies, including by introducing an ad-supported subscription option, leading many to wonder whether the company should rethink its resistance to the traditional Hollywood movie release model as it looks for new ways to grow revenue.“
The Rise of The Movie Theatre Industry Is Here
Avatar has AMC Entertainment’s CEO Adam Aron laughing at short sellers who are betting against the company and movie industry as a whole.
Shareholders have been stating for years now that the theatrical movie experience is irreplaceable.
The public continues to prove that while online streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney+ are convenient, nothing beats the cinema experience.
But I’m curious to hear your thoughts on where you think the movie theatre industry is headed.
Leave a comment down below.
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