The film Avatar: The way of Water land, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2009 film, raced to the top of the box office in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to preliminary figures on Sunday, December 18, from trade firm Exhibitor Relations.

With more than 140 million USD in receipts in three days, the film of director James Cameron is however slightly below the expectations of specialists.

In all countries of the world, the film is also an incredible success, with an additional 300 million USD.

That’s more than 400 million USD, so Avatar 2 achieves one of the best box-office receipts since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Avatar 2, The Way of the Water land, tells a story set more than a decade after the events of the first film.

U.S. Marine Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington), has transitioned into the body of a Na’vi, the large, blue-skinned people of Pandora, and works with them to protect their habitat from a dire threat.

The other success of the last weeks, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, lost the first place and is now far behind Avatar with 5.4 million USD of receipts between Friday, December 16 and Sunday, December 18.

Since November 10, 2022, the Afro-futuristic Marvel movie has taken in nearly 419 million USD at the North American box office, and 367 million USD worldwide.

In third place was Violent Night ($5 million), an action-comedy starring Stranger Things’ David Harbour as a grumpy Santa Claus who is quick to deliver a sledgehammer blow when bad people break into a wealthy family’s home.

Disney’s animated film Avalonia, The Strange Journey is in fourth place with $2.2 million, while The Menu, which borrows from horror, film noir, and gritty comedy with Ralph Fiennes in the lead, takes fifth place with $1.7 million.