'Avatar 2' becomes highest-grossing movie of 2022 in Vietnam

The movie dominated domestic box office revenues every day, overwhelming theaters where nearly all seats were full. Many fans bought tickets to watch the three-hour movie a second and third time. On Dec. 31 alone, "Avatar: The Way Of Water" earned nearly VND10.5 billion.

Internationally, the movie is currently nearing the $1.2 billion milestone. According to Variety, this is one of the highest-grossing films since the pandemic, behind "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($1.9 billion) and "Top Gun: Maverick" ($1.5 billion).

"Avatar: The Way Of Water" had a slow start when earning only $435 million globally on its opening weekend.

Director James Cameron has not disclosed exactly how much the film cost, but he did say that in order for it to "break even," it would need to be the third or fourth highest-grossing film in history. CNN reported that this would be the equivalent of earning a total of more than $2 billion. Thirteen years after it’s release, the first "Avatar" is still the highest-grossing film in theatrical history. It earned nearly $3 billion.

The sequel’s story begins with Jake and Neytiri living a happy home life with three biological children, an adopted child, and a godchild. Then Earthlings once again land on the planet Pandora with the intention of taking revenge on Jake. In order to preserve the lives of his people, Jake and his wife take their children to find a new refuge and integrate into the life of the Na'vi in the sea.

Viewers have been impressed by 3D effects, but critics have said that the story is somewhat lengthy, lacking in breakthroughs compared to the original Avatar.