'Avatar: The Way of Water' nears $900 million globally, boosted by international ticket sales

"Avatar: The Way of Water" took in an estimated $56 million during its second weekend in theaters, a significant drop from its debut.

Most blockbuster titles see a 50% to 70% drop in ticket sales. The second week drop is used as an indicator of whether a film will last at the box office or not.

A film that falls less than 50% is expected to have a long run, while a film that falls 70% is likely to see ticket sales decline as the movie fades from the public eye.

"The second-weekend drop for 'Avatar: The Way of Water' puts it right in the zone of where it needs to be as this performance will set the tone for the ongoing box office journey for the film," said Paul

According to box office analysts, cold winter weather and storms may have caused slower ticket sales domestically.

International ticket sales have continued to grow. The markets outside the U.S. and Canada went down in the second week. It was always assumed that at least 70% of the box office would come from international ticket sales, and that's where the split is now.

"The Way of Water" has made $855 million in global ticket sales since it was released in December. It is the fifth highest grossing film of the year.

Paramount and Skydance's "Top Gun: Maverick" is the current leader with over one billion dollars, followed by Universal's "Jurassic World: Dominion" and Disney's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

"The Way of Water's" haul is less than half of what the film needs to make it profitable. The "Avatar" sequel has room to run at the box office despite waning word of mouth.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" won't be competing with "The Way of Water" until February 17th.

Shawn Robbins is the chief analyst at Box Office.com. If the sequel is going to reach long-term expectations, it will make up for lost ground if it is at that time.

He said that the craving for instant gratification leads to early results being used to gauge a film's success. Sometimes that makes sense but other times it doesn't. One of the situations is this.

NBCUniversal is a part of the company. "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is one of the films distributed by NBCUniversal.