Avatar 2 is finally coming. We’ve known it for years but thanks to a variety of delays, the sequel has felt pretty far off for a long time. That’s no longer true, as Avatar 2 is moving forward at a quick clip and is expected to hit theaters in 2021. Now, the only real question is: Will Avatar 2 be able to reclaim its box office throne? If you ask one franchise star, he certainly thinks so.
Stephen Lang has been known for playing movie baddies on the big screen for quite some time, but he’s biggest villainous role to date may have been in Avatar. Somehow, given the way his story seemingly ended in a death in the first movie, he’ll be back for round 2 and the actor recently spoke out about the Avatar and Avengers: Endgame competition for most money made at the box office.
In fact, he had three little words for The National when he was asked whether or not he thinks Avatar 2 will dethrone Avengers: Endgame at the worldwide box office. He told the outlet, “I expect so.”
"Expect" is such a clever way of wording that. It notes that Stephen Lang does think Avatar will be the franchise on top once more, but it’s not a proclamation that 100% the movie will be the box office king at the end of the day. In fact, if we look at the numbers in the past, the race for #1 was previously a close one.
Avengers: Endgame only topped Avatar at the box office after a lengthy and continued big screen run that even included a second run at the box office. Marvel and Disney actually pushed Avengers: Endgame out a second time with some additional content meant to entice fans to give the movie another go in theaters ahead of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
It was a gamble that paid off, as Avengers: Endgame eventually took the crown back in 2019. Now, with Avatar 2 coming up, there is big hope from the also Disney-owned property that Avatar 2 will be able to see the same sorts of big numbers James Cameron’s first movie saw -- hopefully even bigger.
On the one hand, Avatar is a notable franchise for 3D and special effects technology and James Cameron and so many major a-list actors will be involved in the next round. On the other hand, it’s been more than a decade since the first movie in the franchise came out.
While fans have gotten a really cool Pandora-themed land in Disney World’s Animal Kingdom park in the interim to wet their appetites, in the time since Avatar came out a full generation of kids have grown into adults. Other movie franchises have shown equally cool effects in movies and also 3D is less popular than it once was.
We’ll have to see what ultimately happens with the next few movies in this franchise, but I do think it’s safe to say there is interest in the upcoming Avatar 2 and it’s nice to hear the people involved are rooting for the movie. Plus, ultimately, if Avatar 2 does or does not beat Avengers: Endgame at the box office, it’s still going to make headlines and should be a win for Disney either way.
That’s probably honestly the wilder component to this whole story. It’s also meant that James Cameron and the Russo brothers have been super nice to each other during this friendly competition, which has been fun to see. Catch Avatar 2 starting on December 17, 2021.
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