Looking forward to the stars, looking forward to the moon, the North American film market finally ushered in a great savior. Produced by Disney Pictures, co-produced by 20th Century Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment, and directed by James Cameron, "Avatar: Way of Water" was screened in 4,202 theaters.

"Avatar: Way of Water" poster

"Avatar: Way of Water" follow-up box office still has room to rise

"Avatar: Way of Water" opened with a box office of 134 million U.S. dollars, bringing the weekend's total North American box office to 152 million U.S. dollars. However, the current results may not be able to make the producer Disney feel relieved. Originally, the industry expected that the opening box office of this visual effects blockbuster would reach 150 million U.S. dollars. Compared with 134 million U.S. dollars, it is a bit regrettable. Moreover, this figure failed to surpass the $187.4 million of "Doctor Strange 2" and the $181.3 million opening box office of "Black Panther 2", only ranking third in this year's opening box office list.

However, having said that, some media titled ""Avatar: Way of Water" smashed the box office" just because of this opening result, which is really too impatient. You must know that North American audiences adhere to the habit of going out to watch movies with their families during the Christmas holiday, and the next two weeks are the key. The first "Avatar" that year, and even Cameron's previous "Titanic", were all slow-moving works at the box office. If "Avatar: Way of Water" has enough stamina to create another box office miracle, it is not impossible.

Looking back, the opening box office of the first "Avatar" in 2009 was only 77 million U.S. dollars. Considering the inflation factor of the ticket price, it was quite good in that year, but compared with the various box office records it finally created - North American total With a box office of 750 million US dollars and a global total of 2.74 billion US dollars, it has undergone a short-term re-screening, which has brought its global box office to 2.92 billion US dollars, which is the current number one in global film history-this shows what it means to have full stamina. And this is exactly the charm of "Avatar", relying on various word of mouth, people who don't necessarily want to watch it, will eventually be unable to resist buying tickets to watch it, not to mention that there are still a large number of people who have been completely conquered by it The audience, watching it once is not enough, and there are not a few people who watch it twice and three times, which has also pushed up the total box office of "Avatar" all the way.

"Avatar: Way of Water" director Cameron (left) on the set

Therefore, when I was promoting "Avatar: The Way of Water" this time, when I was asked about the three-hour film, if the audience is in a hurry to urinate, which time is more suitable for leaving the scene for a short time without missing important plots, Director Cameron replied confidently that he can leave the scene at any time, because you will definitely want to watch this movie a second time, and make up for the plot that was missed the first time, the second or even the third time, No problem either. At present, the film has a favorable rate of 78% of critics and 94% of audiences on the film review collection website "Rotten Tomatoes".

"Avatar: Way of Water" currently has a 78 percent favorable rating from critics and a 94 percent favorable rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes

Of course, the pressure is not without, it can even be said to be great. The production cost of "Avatar: Way of Water" is said to be as high as 350 million U.S. dollars. If inflation is not considered, it ranks "Pirates of the Caribbean" at 379 million U.S. dollars, "Avengers 2" at 365 million U.S. dollars and "The Avengers" at 356 million U.S. dollars. After Alliance 4, it is the fourth most expensive film in film history. According to the source of the Hollywood film and television news media "Deadline", its production cost even reached 460 million US dollars.

According to Cameron himself, the film needs a global box office of 2 billion US dollars to recover the production cost, but if the inflation factor is not included, there are only "Avatar", "Titanic" and "Avengers" in the film history for more than 100 years. Five movies, the third, the fourth, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens have met this threshold. Therefore, the amount of overseas box office is very important.

For various reasons, the vast majority of Hollywood films this year have not been released in Russia and mainland China, two of the world's most important film markets. The first "Avatar" in 2009 had a total box office of 116 million US dollars in Russia and 203 million US dollars in mainland China. Thirteen years later, the second film is doomed to miss Russian screens, and after it was released in mainland China, it also encountered external factors such as the epidemic and the sudden drop in winter temperatures. The box office in the first weekend was not very satisfactory, only 396 million yuan. You know, when the first film was released in 2009, the total number of screens in mainland China was less than 5,000 yuan, and today, 13 years later, the total number of screens in China has exceeded 80,000 yuan. The premiere box office of the film is really not very good. However, with the recovery of the first wave of infected people after the slowdown of epidemic prevention measures, "Avatar: The Way of Water" still has room to increase its box office in the mainland.

The overall recovery of the market cannot rely solely on one or two blockbuster films

For people in the Hollywood industry, rather than worrying about the temporary box office gain or loss of a film like "Avatar: Way of Water", the more serious situation is the overall downturn in the film market.

On the same weekend last year, relying on the $260 million box office opening of "Spider-Man: No Return for Heroes", the total North American box office for the three-day weekend was $283 million, and the same period in 2019 was $248 million (but North American movie tickets in 2019 The average price is much lower than it is now), and all in all, it is far better than the $152 million total gross of this weekend.

This year's North American box office trend has already shown that the box office explosion of one or two phenomenal blockbusters alone cannot save the entire market. There are still ten days left in 2022, and the total annual box office in North America is expected to fall between US$7.5 billion and US$8 billion, which is far lower than the US$11.2 billion in 2019. Going back to this time last year, Hollywood, which had been hit hard by the epidemic in 2020, saw the steady recovery of the North American film market in 2021. I was confident that 2022 would be even better, and the annual box office of North American films could rise. 9 billion US dollars, now it seems that such expectations are obviously too optimistic.

"Empire of Light" poster

The biggest problem may still be the upheaval in audience tastes. Take the new film "Empire of Light," which opened in 436 theaters across North America last weekend, for example. The film was written and directed by the great British director Sam Mendes, who has directed films such as "007: Skyfall" and "1917". The cast includes well-known British actors such as Olivia Colman, Toby Jones and Colin Firth, especially the heroine Coleman, who has already been nominated for this year's Golden Globe Award. The director of photography for this film is also the well-known Roger Deakins. Some people predict that he won the Oscar for "1917" the year before last, and this time he is likely to be nominated for an Oscar again for this "Empire of Light".

However, it is such an interesting work, which was released in 436 theaters in three days on weekends, and only received a box office of 235,000 US dollars from American audiences, which translates to only 539 US dollars per theater. How bad is this grade? Just compare it to Elf, which was re-screened at the same time. That's right, it's the "Christmas Elf" that premiered in 2003. In order to welcome the upcoming Christmas file, Warner Bros. specially arranged for this old film to be released in 270 theaters. Empire of Light".

'Post-Avatar depression' sweeping the world again

Finally, let’s talk about "Avatar: The Way of Water". The release of the film brought out an interesting phenomenon: the so-called "post-Avatar depression" appeared on European and American social media. Especially seeing the "Skyman" in the film - his own kind brutally hunted and killed the spiritual Tu Kun for the so-called eternal youth, it is hard not to make people feel sad and indignant.

In fact, as early as 2009, when the first film was released, some viewers made this statement. They pointed out on the "Avatar" exclusive fan website (Avatar Forums) that after reading the magical stories of these blue-skinned giants, they felt that their lives were meaningless, and even wondered whether human beings who only know how to destroy the environment can survive necessary. Some of them dreamed of becoming a member of the planet Pandora, and some even thought of committing suicide so that they could become blue Na'vi people in the next life. At that time, movie fans from all over the world gathered on the website and put forward similar opinions, which also aroused great attention from the media, and thus came the saying of "post-Avatar depression".

Stills of "Avatar: Way of Water"

"I saw the movie "Avatar" for the first time in my life yesterday. I woke up this morning and felt that the whole world was gray. My whole life, everything I've done, and the purpose of my life have all lost all meaning. .I don’t see any need to continue like this. The world I live in is experiencing death.” In 2010, a Swedish netizen named Ivar Hill (Ivar Hill) left such a heartfelt voice on the website , he was 17 years old that year.

Since then, under the advice of a group of colleagues who also suffer from the so-called "post-Avatar depression", Hill began to get out of the small room more, and went outdoors, looking for a positive life path as much as possible. Fast forward more than ten years, and now he is married and has a family. His wife is a netizen he met on the Avatar fan site. In an interview with The New York Times, Hill said that after experiencing that psychological crisis, he followed the advice of netizens and fell in love with outdoor activities such as camping and hiking, especially in the forest to enjoy the experience of harmony between man and nature. , also began to pay attention to more active environmental protection actions such as energy conservation and sustainable development.

Now, the Hills are waiting for the release of the second "Avatar". Will it still be as gloomy and uncomfortable as it was back then? Hill said that times have changed, and he has already figured it out. He also advises those who may feel the same emotions after watching the second part, might as well embrace nature more and learn to cherish the present.