Avatar The Way of Water beats Doctor Strange 2 to register fastest advance booking ever in India, passes ₹10 crore
Avatar The Way of Water is still nine days away from theatrical release and yet, the film is already breaking records at the box office.
The James Cameron film has, as per reports, crossed the ₹10-crore mark in nett collections from advance bookings on Monday evening, a full ten days before its release. This is a new record for any film in India, breaking the mark set by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness earlier this year.
Avatar The Way of Water is the sequel to the 2009 hit Avatar, which remains the highest-grossing film in the world. Directed by James Cameron, the film is intended to be the second in a planned five-film franchise. It will release worldwide on December 16. Advance booking for the film opened in India last week due to the high buzz around it.
As per a report by BoxOfficeIndia.com, the film saw the fastest advance in history of Indian cinema, crossing ₹10 crore by close of business on Monday night, ten days before release. The report said that Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness hit the 10-crore nett mark nine days before release.
The ₹10-crore figure for Avatar 2 is for all days for which booking is open right now (the first weekend). The first-day advance booking numbers are impressive on their own as well. As per industry tracker Sacnilk, the film has sold tickets worth ₹4.8 crore for its opening day by Tuesday afternoon.
The fast pace still may not be enough to enable the film to break the all-time advance booking record in India, which is held by Avengers: Endgame. The 2019 Marvel film did a business of ₹65 crore nett in all languages in advance bookings.
Avatar 2 has nine days to get to the mark but may find it tough. The pandemic-era record for a Hollywood film is held by another Marvel release–Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned ₹47 crore in advance booking last year.
Avatar The Way of Water brings back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver from the first film while also adding Kate Winslet this time around. The first reactions to the film came out recently with most critics praising it and calling it a visual masterpiece.