The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)'s shares suffered from first night nerves today as “Avatar: The Way of Water" failed to meet the sky-high targets of industry analysts on its debut weekend.
The much-touted sequel tied with Warner Bros.' "The Batman" as the fifth-highest opener of 2022, according to Comscore data securing director James Cameron his first $100-million opening weekend.
But although the blockbuster netted roughly $134 million, this missed industry expectations of $170 million-plus and Disney’s own anticipated range of $135 million to $150 million.
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International markets helped boost the film, which runs for 3 hours and 12 minutes, to a $434.5 million start after it secured $300.5 million overseas.
But there was optimism that the shortfall on the opening weekend would be recovered as movie goers head to the cinema over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“The Way of Water” is “built for the long haul, as are almost all James Cameron films,” said Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. Audiences “may not show up the opening weekend, but they will show up eventually.”
Studios split ticket sales with theaters, and Cameron has said “The Way of Water” will need to make $2 billion just to break even. Disney has not disclosed the budget and marketing costs.
Shares in Disney were down 4.4% while movie theatre operator IMAX was also marked down 4.7% along with industry peer AMC Entertainment and Cinemark also slipped on the news, down about 8.3% and 10.8%, respectively.
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