3D Showings Made Up for More Than Half of All ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Ticket Sales
Disney and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” reportedly witnessed a record rise in its ticket sales for 3D showings, according to movie analysts. As of Monday, the second installment of the “Avatar” franchise was just shy of becoming the third-highest grossing film of all time.
As moviegoers are showing more interest in premium cinema experiences due to the pandemic, “The Way of Water” has easily outpaced its competition. The movie, which released in mid-December, has got a significantly larger percentage of cinema goers to purchase higher-priced showings. The “Avatar” sequel is now well on its way to record more than $2 billion in box office collections globally. It was only this past weekend that the movie gave up its top spot at the local weekend box office.
During its dream run at the box office, “The Way of Water” generated nearly 30% of its domestic ticket sales from premium format showings. The average price of each ticket stood at $17.80, as per data published by EntTelligence. For comparison, all other movies released in 2022 — not including “The Way of Water” — witnessed a 14% decrease in their ticket sales for premium showings. The ticket prices also averaged at $15.76 per ticket.
The immense push for 3D screening from Disney as well as director Cameron has caused the film to record tremendous revenue throughout its run at the box office. Since its release, the “Avatar” sequel has sold more than 56% of its tickets for 3D showings. The price of each ticket averaged at $16.30, while the traditional 2D tickets were sold for around $12.12 each.
The original “Avatar,” which released in 2009 and is the highest grossing film of all time, also performed well in 3D screenings and premium ticket sales. According to Variety, 80% of its haul came from these formats and auditoriums.
“The Way of Water” has not reached its historic box office numbers yet due to the surcharges charged for 3D and premium format screenings. Some critics have even questioned the cultural relevance of the franchise since there was a gap of more than 10 years between the two movies. Nonetheless, the sequel has managed to attract moviegoers across the demographic spectrum.
