Avatar: The Way of Water is already the ninth biggest film of the year after just one week

Film is on course to hit $1bn (£830m) in the new year

Avatar: The Way of Water is already the ninth biggest film of the year after just one week.

All eyes were on the sequel’s opening weekend figures, considering its status as one of the most expensive films of all time.

It has been 13 years since the release of the first Avatar, which became the highest-grossing film of all time.

The film made $435m (£356m) globally in its opening weekend and, as of Thursday morning (22 December), the film had made $609.7m (£506m).

Analysts have noticed that the film performed a lot better than the first Avatar did in its opening weekend.

Avatar became a success by remaining at the top of the box office for seven weeks. It’s been predicted that The Way of Water’s takings will also build as the weeks go on, which will see it surpass films including The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder in the global rankings of 2022.

In its opening weekend in the US, Avatar: The Way of Water took $134m (£109.7m) which, while approximately $35m (£28.6m) under projections, is more than $60m (£49m) more than the first Avatar made in its first three days of release.

James Cameron at the premiere of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ (Invision)

Disney will no doubt be pleased with the figures considering James Cameron has already completed a third Avatar film, and has another two in the works.

Depsite the film’s success, viewers are complaining about a “giant” plot hole in the sequel.

Last week, Cameron reflected on the “problem” with Terminator: Dark Fate , admitting that a certain demand he made about Arnold Schwarzenegger affected the end product.

Find The Independent’s review of the film here.