Avatar: The Way of Water is director James Cameron's highly anticipated sequel to his 3D wonder from 13 years ago i.e. Avatar. Disney is estimated to have spent a whopping $350 million [Rs. 2891 Cr. approximately] in production cost alone, making it one of the most expensive films even by Hollywood standards. James Cameron recently admitted in a magazine interview that Avatar 2 will need to make $2 billion [Rs. 16, 524 Cr. approximately] in worldwide gross just to break even.

Films with > 2B Worldwide Gross

1. Avatar (2009) - $2. 9 billion
2. Avengers: Endgame (2019) - $2. 7 billion
3. Titanic (1997) - $2. 1 billion
4. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - $2. 06 billion
5. Avengers: Infinity War (2018) - $2. 04 billion

Interestingly, only 5 movies till date have been able to achieve this feat including Cameron's Avatar (2009) and Titanic (1997). So theaters across the world have been toughing it out with Disney [the studio producing and distributing the Avatar franchise], who are not only splitting shares on ticket sales on an expensive ratio [e.g. 70: 30 with Disney taking away 70% of the profit] but are also pushing for ticket prices towards the higher cap. 

Disney-UTV is presenting the film in India and earlier this month, several independent theater owners, especially in South Indian states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu had protested against their share demands. This is because: 

• Disney's demand of ticket sale shares were on par with the market of top stars in the respective regions. The Avatar franchise does have fans in India, but the movie does not guarantee the same footfalls say an Ajith, Rajini or Vijay would in Tamil Nadu. 

• This means that theaters that agree to Disney's share will make very less profit.  

• Since the pandemic, movie theaters in Tamil Nadu have not had to pay a minimum guarantee upfront, and mostly do business by splitting the ticket sales. However Disney-UTV is said to have asked for an upfront payment, which could potentially lead to a huge loss for theater owners if Avatar 2 doesn't do well.    

With Avatar: The Way of Water set for a December 16, 2022 [Friday] release in India, theater owners in Kerala seem to have come around the negotiation. In Tamil Nadu and Telugu states, only National multiplexes have signed to screen the film. In some regions of Tamil Nadu, like the TT area where Avatar 2 is being presented by Udhayanidhi Stalin's Red Giant Movies, there seems to be no issues however.