India Competes with China and the US in Ticket Sales for Avatar: The Way of Water at the box office

While North America and China currently lead in terms of overall box office earnings, India has made a strong showing in terms of ticket sales for Avatar: The Way of Water.

By Jatinder Singh

Updated on Dec 18, 2022 | 07:58 AM IST | 400.4K

Avatar 2 (image courtesy of Disney)

The highly anticipated film Avatar: The Way of Water is making a splash at the box office since its release on Wednesday, earning approximately $180 million through Friday. The film is projected to earn a total of $425 million globally over the weekend. India has made a significant contribution to this success, with a record-breaking $6 million on its opening day, ranking as the sixth largest market for the film. However, when considering only first-day business, India jumps to third place, closely following North America ($36 million) and China ($20 million), ahead of typically larger markets such as the United Kingdom ($4.50 million), South Korea ($3.25 million), France ($2.90 million), and Germany ($2.60 million).

The top markets for Avatar: The Way of Water till Friday are as follows:

North America - $53 million
China - $24 million
South Korea - $9.80 million
France - $9.50 million
Germany - $8.60 million
India - $6 million
Mexico - $5.90 million
Australia - $5.50 million
United Kingdom - $4.50 million
Italy - $4.50 million

While North America and China currently lead in terms of overall box office earnings, India has made a strong showing in terms of ticket sales for Avatar: The Way of Water. On Friday, the film sold nearly 2.30 million tickets in India, narrowly trailing behind North America's 2.60 million and China's 2.55 million. This is particularly impressive considering that the film was only shown on 4,000 screens in India, compared to 15,000 in North America and 45,000 in China. India occasionally ranks among the top markets for Hollywood films in terms of ticket sales, this marks a rare occasion where India has reached such a high level of competition with the traditionally larger markets of North America and China for a major blockbuster film.