Avatar: The Way Of Water Will Make A Profit Of $500 Million-Plus, Report Says

gamespot.com:

Prior to the release of Avatar: The Way of Water, many people questioned if the film could find an audience given that it had been more than 10 years since the first film. The sci-fi movie ended up being a smash hit, though, earning $2.3 billion worldwide to become the No. 3 highest-grossing movie of all time. The 2009 original Avatar remains No. 1 with $2.92 billion.

But how much profit did The Way of Water make? According to Deadline, The Way of Water earned Walt Disney $531.7 million. A P&L sheet from Deadline shows The Way of Water earned $2.3 billion at the global box office, of which Disney retained $1.26 billion after distribution fees. For context, Disney kept an average of 55% of box office revenue for The Way of Water.

Disney booked another $150 million in revenue for The Way of Water's home release and $200 million from television and streaming rights, Deadline reported. In total, Disney generated a total revenue figure of $1.618 billion from The Way of Water, according to the report.

In terms of expenses, The Way of Water reportedly carried a $400 million production budget, with a further $175 million spent on advertising. Total expenses were $1.087 billion. Disney is said to have paid writer-director James Cameron and producer Jon Landau a bulk of the $300 million in participation fees, while the actors received «crazy» upfront payments in lieu of backend participation. For comparison, Cameron was paid a reported $350 million for the first Avatar.

Subtracting from $1.618 billion in total revenue and you get a total profit to Disney of $531.7 million. Head to Deadline to see a full accounting of The Way of Water's box office success.

The Way of Water's massive success at the box office paves the way for