Avatar: The Way Of Water’s Hefty Budget Revealed
The Avatar budget has been revealed to be somewhere in the $350 to $400 million range.
James Cameron recently revealed that Avatar: The Way of Water would have to make history in order to break even, and that was by becoming the fourth highest-grossing movie in cinema history, which is currently Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens at $2.069 billion. This news has now been corroborated by the Avatar budget finally coming out via The Hollywood Reporter, which is reported to be in the $350 to $400 million range. With the many people needing to be paid that are involved in this production, we now believe that the movie will have to reach around $2.07 billion to break even.
We would imagine that majority of the Avatar budget is going to the extensive special effects department, as nearly everything about both entries so far has been done using CGI. Now, with the inclusion of a world of water, it appears that Cameron has had to spend even more on the movie to make sure that it looks as pristine as possible. The good news is that the sequel movie will make its way to the Chinese market, which will be one of the first American-made movies to do since the pandemic began.
With the China debut for the movie, the Avatar budget could be a thing of the past, as the overseas market tends to do very well for most movies. The first Avatar movie made $261.8 million through its several releases so far and being that the sequel will be one of the first American movies to return to China, it could mean even bigger numbers. Avatar: The Way of Water is set to debut on December 16th in China, the same day that it will premiere for everyone in the states.
Interestingly, talks to bring Avatar: The Way of Water to China had been in the works for weeks, but had been announced once Bob Iger returned as CEO of Disney. It could be that Iger was attempting to get the movie into international markets as part of his deal to return, and effectively replace Bob Chapek. That is just wild speculation, but the deal to get the movie into China is going to be a huge help in combating the huge Avatar budget.
Considering the huge nearly $400 million price tag, the Avatar budget makes this movie one of the most expensive in Hollywood history. If the budget is confirmed to be closer to $350 million, Avatar: The Way of Water would be the #4 most expensive, surpassing Avengers: Infinity War at $325 million. Should the budget be close to the $400 million mark, the sequel would then overtake the #1 position away from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at $379 million, #2 Avengers: Age of Ultron at $365 million, and #3 Avengers: Endgame at $356 million.
Disney is clearly no stranger to huge price points for their movies, and the Avatar budget will join some of the biggest blockbusters the world has ever seen. Clearly, James Cameron is putting a lot of faith into his sequel, which is now 13 years past the release of the first. Hopefully, his hopes can be confirmed by the sequel surpassing the original as the #1 highest-grossing movie in cinema history.
