The advances for Avatar: Fire and Ash picked up some momentum in India over the weekend. As of Monday morning, the film has sold 55K tickets at the two national chains for its opening day and 140K tickets for the full weekend. Overall, the film has banked in over Rs. 4 crore for its first day and Rs. 10 crore for the weekend in pre-sales.
The sales are down significantly from Avatar: The Way of Water at the same point before release, although the gap has narrowed. At the start of the weekend, on Friday, it was around 30 per cent of Avatar 2 at national chains and ended the weekend closer to 40 per cent. At the current pace, the film is headed for 200K final sales, as against the 330K final number of Avatar 2.
The Comparison of Advance Sales at National Chains between Avatar: Fire and Ash and Avatar: The Way of Water is as follows:
| Time | Avatar 3 | Avatar 2 |
|---|---|---|
| T-7 Days | 29,000 | 102,000 |
| T-6 Days | 34,000 | 112,000 |
| T-5 Days | 45,000 | 125,000 |
| T-4 Days | 55,000 | 139,000 |
| T-3 Days | 158,000 | |
| T-2 Days | 183,000 | |
| T-1 Day | 230,000 | |
| T-0 Day | 330,000 |
This shortfall compared to Avatar 2 aligns with the trends seen in other markets across the world. The reason is straightforward: Avatar 2 was a long-awaited sequel to a box office zeitgeist, the biggest movie in the world, while this is another Avatar film in three years. The pent-up demand for an Avatar film that propelled Avatar 2 to a sizeable head start in early demand, isn’t at play this time.
The sales are strongest in South India, as was the case with Avatar 2 as well. Tamil Nadu and Telugu states, which were the top two territories for Avatar 2, are leading the sales. North India lags a bit behind initially, but should catch up closer to release and then further after release. The ongoing box office juggernaut, Dhurandhar, is expected to pose a substantial challenge to the film in Northern circuits, as it is expected to continue dominating the show-casing in its third week.
Interestingly, this marks a reversal from 2022, when it was Avatar 2 that ran over a Ranveer Singh film, Cirkus.
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