Third installment of “Avatar” hits Chinese screens

Xinhua/APP

Beijing:While “Zootopia 2” continues to shatter box-office records across China, James Cameron’s epic sci-fi film “Avatar: Fire and Ash” opened Friday in the Chinese mainland alongside its North American release.

Following “Avatar” (2009) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022), the third installment in one of the most lucrative film franchises globally now joins a year-end release slate largely led by domestic titles in the world’s second-largest film market.

Despite strong anticipation, few would expect the new Avatar film to match the record-setting performance of “Avatar” in China. Released in 2010 in the mainland, it became China’s top-grossing title with 1.34 billion yuan (about 189.94 million U.S. dollars) in ticket sales.

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The 2022 sequel earned 1.7 billion yuan in China but fell short of replicating that earlier success. By then, China’s top box-office benchmark had been raised to 5.77 billion yuan by the 2021 domestic blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin.”

As of noon on its first screening day, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” garnered 69.65 million yuan in ticket sales, including preview screenings.

By late Thursday, China’s year-end box office revenue had already topped 4 billion yuan. This year’s year-end movie season runs from Nov. 28 to Dec. 31.