Avatar: The Way of Water has a tough hill to climb

The new Avatar movie has to become one of the highest-grossing films in history in order to break even, reflecting the precarious nature of the Avatar film franchise.

Avatar: The Way of Water is the long-anticipated sequel to James Cameron’s 2009 Avatar movie. Returning film fans to the alien world of Pandora, it shifts the action to the planet’s oceans and introduces new threats for the Na’vi to handle. Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana reprise their roles as Jake Sully and Neytiri, with the likes of Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh and even Vin Diesel joining them this time around.

Indeed, Avatar is going to need all the star power it can muster – as Cameron, who is directing once more, has recently discussed the film’s financial milestones. According to a recent interview with GQ, Cameron described the movie as “the worst business case in movie history”. It needs to be the third or fourth-highest grossing film ever created if it’s going to break even – and, presumably, inspire numerous sequels in the years to come. 

As we’ve previously discussed, the long-term future of the Avatar franchise is far from a certainty – and that has obvious ramifications for the LEGO Avatar theme. While an impressive range of LEGO Avatar sets has already been confirmed, these closely follow the events of the movies (at least in the case of the original wave). A LEGO Avatar theme will therefore need fresh blood to be sustainable, and that supply will probably be cut off sooner than expected if Avatar: The Way of Water bombs.

However, we suspect that the novelty of Avatar will give it a wide audience – with Cameron’s sterling track record as a director speaking for itself. You can see Avatar: The Way of Water in cinemas from December 16 onwards, while the original is now available on Disney+. The first wave of LEGO Avatar sets is also currently available at LEGO.com, with sets inspired by Avatar: The Way of Water available in 2023.

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