In what is becoming an increasingly rare occurrence, Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in Chinese theaters in December. 20th Century Studios shared that the movie will be released on December 16, 2022, in China. This makes it one of the few foreign films to get to be released in China.
Foreign films have had an increasingly difficult time getting release dates in China. This is due to a quota on international releases in the country and also the difficulty of getting movies released in China due to content that Chinese regulators have deemed unsuitable for Chinese audiences. This has meant that the last six Marvel Studios films have not been released in the country. The increased scrutiny has come as Chinese movie studios make more blockbusters that could be seen as competing with American blockbusters.
China has an increasingly large movie market that passed U.S. sales at the box office for the first time in 2020. Because of this, Disney and other studios would like to see their films released in the country. However, because of COVID-19 restrictions, the country has had added restrictions on the number of people who can be in a theater. With COVID-19 cases currently increasing, theater attendance has gone down.
This year China has had a total box office take of $4.6 billion U.S. This is down significantly from where it was in 2019 when the box office brought in $47.04 billion.
The release of Avatar: The Way of Water will be helpful for the expensive film. It was initially estimated that it would cost around $250 million to make this film. However, recent interviews with James Cameron seem to indicate that the film needed to make $2 billion to break even. If this is the case, the Chinese market will become even more important to help the film break even and make a profit.
Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in theaters on December 16, 2022, in the United States and around the globe. Recently a new trailer was released for the film as tickets went on sale. Are you excited about the arrival of this film? What did you think of the first one? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
