A screenshot from Avatar: The Way of Water trailer
Box Office India Trade Network

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER scored a fantastic first day with collection of 40 crore nett apprx driven by record breaking collections in all circuits of South India. The final collections are still to come but the records look there comfortably beating AVENGERS: ENDGAME in all the southern circuits.

The film has also done very well in Hindi circuits though its low in comparison to South but that was always likely as AVATAR (2009) was a mega BLOCKBUSTER in South and although it was also a huge BLOCKBUSTER in metros of Hindi circuits, the business was very average in smaller centres. In fact some of the mass circuits were so low that AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER may have beaten the lifetime collections of AVATAR (2009) in circuits like CI, Bihar and Assam in just one day. If not one day then it will be 1.5 days. So looking at it that way, these circuits are actually very big for the film.

The numbers are solid across Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and Bengal but here the story was always about what happens from second day onward as the film is not an action extravaganza like the other big Hollywood openers. And to be competing with likes of SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME and AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR is good enough as the film will not be as heavily frontloaded like those films if the public is with the film.

The film will show growth on Saturday across all Hindi markets but with these huge numbers down South, there could be a drop there especially in Nizam/Andhra. So it remains to be seen how it plays out on day two as far as the all India number goes. The growth is crucial in Hindi circuits as to do the big numbers, the ratio has to go to 60% or more in the long run while on day one it is looking around 50%. 

The top five openings for Hollywood in India are as follows. These are the only five films to open above the 20 crore nett mark and its dominated by Marvel with AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER being the only film in the list outside the Marvel brand.

1. Avengers: Endgame - 53,50,00,000
2. Avatar: The Way Of Water - 40,00,00,000 apprx
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home - 32,75,00,000
4. Avengers: Infinity War - 31,25,00,000
5. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness - 28,75,00,000
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AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER smashed records in South India by a margin as it collected around 7 crore nett more than the highest grossing Hollywood film, AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The main reason was the phenomenal collections in Nizam/Andhra as it collected over 11 crore nett which is a huge number for the circuit outside the films of the leading male stars of Andhra.

The record in Nizam/Andhra was held by SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME at 5.50 crore nett and not AVENGERS: ENDGAME but still AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER was able to double that number. Kerala also scored huge numbers with 3 crore nett which again is almost double of AVENGERS: ENDGAME.

The numbers in Mysore/Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were also record-breaking but here AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER just edged past the records of AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The contribution from South India was a huge 22.25 crore nett while Hindi circuits will be contributing 18 crore nett which is a 55%-45% ratio in favour of South India but this will change as the film moves forward.

The collections in Hindi circuits were 50% of AVENGERS: ENDGAME. although in the East the collections in Bihar, Odisha and Assam are just 20-30% less. It can be said that if the film performed in Hindi circuits like South, it would have done 70-75 crore nett on day one but that was never going to happen as the film with mass audience was not a craze like the AVENGERS franchise is. Also in 2009, AVATAR was far far bigger in South and that has been replicated by AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER initially.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER crossed AVATAR (2009) in one day in Assam while Bihar and CI will be crossed by the end of business today. In Hindi circuits, the business on day one remained lower than the big Marvel franchise films.

The comparison of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER and AVENGERS: ENDGAME in South India is as follows.

Nizam/Andhra
Avengers: Endgame - 4,76,00,000
Avatar: The Way Of Water - 11,10,00,000 apprx

Mysore / Karnataka
Avengers: Endgame - 4,42,00,000
Avatar: The Way Of Water - 4,50,00,000 apprx

Tamil Nadu
Avengers: Endgame - 4,71,00,000
Avatar: The Way Of Water - 4,85,00,000 apprx

Kerala
Avengers: Endgame - 1,51,00,000
Avatar: The Way Of Water - 2,90,00,000 apprx

South India Total
Avengers: Endgame - 15,40,00,000
Avatar: The Way Of Water - 22,35,00,000 apprx