Avatar Revenue: The Way Of Water Tembus IDR 30.4 Trillion, Finally Back Capital

JAKARTA - Avatar's gross revenue: The Way of Water is recorded to have penetrated 2.02 billion US dollars or around Rp. 30.4 trillion at the global box office as of Sunday, January 22 local time.

That figure makes it another top franchise film from Walt Disney. According to director James Cameron, Avatar 2 needs to reach $2 billion just to break even.

The avatar sequel debuted at the end of last December, set 13 years after the original Avatar introduced the world of Pandora.

After six weeks of staying in theaters, the film ranks sixth as the highest-grossing film of all time. Ticket sales of US$1.4 billion (Rp21 trillion) were contributed from international markets outside the United States and Canada.

"This is undeniably successful. Whenever a film is in billions (income in US dollars), it is at the top of the franchise," said senior media analyst at Comscore Paul Dergarabedian, citing a Reuters report on Tuesday, January 24.

Disney has not disclosed in detail the film's budget, but The Hollywood Reporter reports that the cost of production of Avatar 2 is at least US$350 million (Rp 5.2 trillion) plus marketing costs. Studio shares ticket sales with theaters.

Analysts argue strong acceptance for the film will also help attract people to visit the Pandora area of Walt Disney World in Florida, USA. In addition, it will also trigger merchandise sales for years to come.

Meanwhile, the third avatar, currently being created by Cameron, is scheduled to debut in December 2024. The fourth and fifth films are scheduled to air in December 2026 and December 2028, respectively.

The first avatar captivated the audience with innovative visuals that tell the story of Na'vi as a resident of Pandora. The film, which was released in 2009, remains the highest-income film in history with global ticket sales of US$2.9 billion (Rp43.5 trillion).

Thus, Cameron directed three of the other six top films of all time, namely two Avatar films and the film hand (1997).