Avatar 2 predicted to make $500 million in its opening weekend

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

Avatar: The Way of Water is predicted to make around half a billion dollars during its opening weekend. The long-awaited sequel to James Cameron's sci-fi epic releases in the UK and US on December 16 and is already causing waves when it comes to pre-booked tickets and box office figures.

According to Deadline, the movie will be shown across 52,000 screens around the world – including a rarified release in China – and is expected to earn $525 million globally. Its estimated financial success is hardly surprising, however, given that Avatar (2009) is currently the highest-grossing movie of all time, having earned $2.9 billion worldwide.

That said, other films have made more than half a billion over their first few days in cinemas; Avengers: Endgame, for example, made a whopping $1.2 billion in the time frame. Avengers: Infinity War racked up $640.5 million, while Spider-Man: No Way Home bagged $600 million, and The Fate and the Furious pocketed $541.9 million. There's always the chance that The Way of Water could surpass its own projections, though...

Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, Avatar 2 catches us up with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), their kids, and "the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure," according to the official synopsis. Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Dileep Rao, Matt Gerald, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, Brendan Cowell, and Kate Winslet round out the supporting cast.

While we wait for Avatar: The Way of Water to come out on Friday (December 16), check out our list of the best sci-fi movies for some viewing inspiration.

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.