Avatar: The Way of Watersure is a strange film in 2022, and the list of oddities surrounding it grows bigger now that it’s been confirmed that James Cameron’s movie will be among the few select Hollywood blockbusters making its way to China the same day it premieres in most parts of the world.
Cameron’s epic sci-fi movie spent over a decade in the making. In fact, so much time has passed since the firstAvatarcame out that very few people remember it in full detail. That’s probably why Disney decided to rereleaseAvatarin theaters back in September, with a surprisingly good reception signalling interest inAvatar: The Way of Watermight be higher than initially expected.
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According toDeadline’s report,Avatar: The Way of Waterwill land in Chinese movie theaters on December 16, and the news quickly spread through Disney’s officialWeibo, China’s leading social media platform. It bears saying thatAvatar’s original cut was screened in China last year in March, totalling an impressive $58 million in earnings, out of which 30% came from IMAX, despite the relatively low number of such theaters in the country. So it’s no surprise the studio sees the Chinese market as critical forAvatar: The Way of Water.
In 2010, whenAvatarfirst screened in China, the nation was a very different place and more impervious to foreign cultural offerings. The governing Communist Party even pulled the 2D version of the film from theaters when China only had 11 IMAX 3D cinemas functioning. That didn’t stop Chinese crowds from going out to see it, makingAvatara popular productdue to what Western media perceived as people drawing parallels between the plot and the nation’s rapid development in certain provinces.
In any case,Avatar: The Way of Waterneeds all the help it can getbecause most reports are placing the movie’s undisclosed budget at anywhere between $350-400M, a number that would not only make it one of the most expensive films ever made, it’d also call forThe Way of Waterto enter the list of biggest earners ever to break even, by Cameron’s admission. While China’s government has eased its stance, now allowingAvatarits rightful place as a beloved product by Chinese moviegoers, the overall trend is quite the opposite.
Disney, in particular, has had a terrible time breaking into China, as the censoring bodies have killed the possibility of any Marvel Studios movie releasing on the mainland since 2019 and Disney Plus is unavailable in the country. It’s not as if DC or other big-budget movies are doing any better, as theF9andJurassic World: Dominionare among the select few China-approved films in a year wherecensorship even shot downTop Gun: Maverick.
Avatar: The Way of Waterwill be released in theaters on July 09, 2025.
