'Avatar 2' soars past 'Top Gun' with $1.5 billion to become highest-grossing film of 2022, and it's already the 10th biggest movie ever
"Avatar: The Way of Water" has surpassed "Maverick's" box office haul in just its first three weeks in theaters, raking in an astonishing $1.51 billion worldwide since Dec. 16 according to Box Office Mojo data. Box office watchers don't expect "Avatar 2" to slow down any time soon. Along with the original "Avatar" ($2.92 billion) and "Titanic" ($2.2 billion), Cameron has now directed three of the 10 biggest blockbusters ever. "The first movie famously just kept going and going and going." "Avatar's" box office dominance wasn't a given from the outset.
cnbc.com'Avatar' sequel sails to 2nd week atop the box office
LOS ANGELES (AP) โ โAvatar: The Way of Water" sailed to the top of the box office in its second weekend, bringing in a strong $58 million in North America that suggests it may stay afloat into the new year and approach the massive expectations that met its release. James Cameron's digital extravaganza for 20th Century Studios has made $253.7 million domestically in its first 10 days of release, compared to $212.7 million in the same stretch for 2009's first โAvatar,โ which would go on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. While Cameron's films like the โAvatarโ original and โTitanicโ tend to have serious legs at the box office, sequels tend to open big and decline quickly, complicating guesses on where the film will end up.
news.yahoo.com'Avatar: The Way of Water' failed to live up to box office expectations on its opening weekend, reports say โ putting pressure on Disney's $2 billion bet
'Avatar 2' has come in under expectations on its opening weekend. But, like its predecessor, it may end up being a longer-term hit.
news.yahoo.comSean Parker OK'd to buy stake in Peter Jackson's VFX studio
FILE - In this May 6, 2017, file photo, Sean Parker arrives at an event in Culver City, Calif. Tech billionaire Sean Parker has been approved by New Zealand authorities to buy a one-third stake in film director Peter Jackson's visual effects studio. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)WELLINGTON โ New Zealand authorities have approved tech billionaire Sean Parkerโs purchase of a one-third stake in film director Peter Jacksonโs visual effects studio. Parker needed special permission from the Overseas Investment Office because he isnโt a New Zealand resident and the Weta Digital studio is worth more than 100 million New Zealand dollars ($71 million). Weta will issue new shares for Parker, diluting Jackson's stake. In 2016, Parker and Akkaraju founded a video-on-demand startup called Screening Room, which this year relaunched as SR Labs.
Pixarโs โSoulโ bypasses theaters, will stream on Christmas
NEW YORK โ The Pixar film โSoulโ will skip theaters and instead premiere on Disney+ on Christmas, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday, sending one of the fallโs last big movies straight to streaming. The successive delays of the film industry's would-be blockbusters has only made the dire circumstances of movie theaters more acute. Without aid, the organization said, 69% of small and mid-sized movie theater companies will close or go bankrupt. โThe stark reality is that many movie theaters will not be able to open again if they donโt receive government help,โ says Esther Baruh, director of government relations for the association. It recently announced that it would lay off 28,000 workers, most of them at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Dev Patel celebrates India from his Los Angeles front yard
This image released by National Geographic shows circular Phumdis floating atop Laktak Lake, the largest freshwater lake in northeast India, from the two-part special "India From Above," narrated by actor Dev Patel. Second was the offer to celebrate Indias culture and civilizations by narrating a National Geographic special, India From Above, which airs Sept. 30. It was incredible to be able to make some art in a way, to voice this beautiful thing, linked up to India, said Patel. Patel frequently films in India, but high above the crowd is not a perspective hes used to. How people find a way in India, no matter how hard the condition is, he said.