Avatar: Fire and Ash opened with Rs. Earned Rs 22 crore (total Rs 18 crore)/US$2.50 million at the Indian box office on Friday. It ranks as the seventh/eighth biggest opening day for Hollywood in India, depending on whether the original comes in above or below Thor: Love and Thunder.
These figures may be good for the film, but they are much lower than its previous film Avatar: The Way of Water, which made Rs. Earned Rs 48.50 crore on the first day in India. Degradation was always there in Avatar 2, and the trend is visible globally as well, but the extent of the degradation is surprising, with Fire and Ash opening up just under halfway through The Way of Water.
Some in the business may be blaming fierce competition for this decline, but this explanation is limited to just that. Avatar 2’s decline has been steeper in the South than in the Hindi circuit, which suggests that competition is not the primary factor. There has been almost a 60 percent decline from The Way of Water’s record-breaking first day performance in the Telugu states. The best catch also came from the south in Tamil Nadu, which was down 40 percent. Over the past few years, Hollywood films have consistently performed strongly in Tamil Nadu during the Christmas-New Year window. The Hindi circuits were a little better than halfway.
Avatar 2 was the highly anticipated sequel to the world’s biggest blockbuster, releasing thirteen years after the original film. The demand that was there for ‘The Way of Water’ in the film ‘Avatar’ is not there this time. The sequel probably wasn’t as well received as the original, which is likely to dampen expectations for the third film.
Looking ahead, the film has a huge holiday period during which it can take off. Being so far down from Avatar 2, there’s still room for growth. The film should post a big final number, even if low by franchise standards. Both previous Avatar films were the highest-grossing Hollywood films in India at the time of their release; Avatar 3 will be far behind.
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