Avatar 2 Just Dealt A Devastating Blow To Movie Theaters
Avatar 2's paltry movie theater opening left AMC, Cinemark, IMAX, and Disney dropping in prices per share in the stock market.
For some reason, Avatar 2 being released in movie theaters was mentioned in some circles as the “savior of the box office” but current market stock prices for movie theaters have proven that to be untrue. The long-awaited sequel was officially released to a decent box office haul, but nothing impressive enough to confirm that the movie will be a giant money maker. What makes matters worse is that AMC, Cinemark, IMAX, and Disney all saw significant stock market plummets this past weekend.
Avatar 2 might have hit movie theaters this weekend, but AMC saw an 8.26 percent drop yesterday. Cinemark also plummeted 10.3 percent, though it would recover a few points in the trading hours following the drop, and IMAX saw a drop of 5.76 percent. Even Disney, who released the movie, saw a 4.77 percent dip of its own, which now counts as the biggest drop for the company since 2014.
Stock traders seemed to have believed that Avatar 2 would have people running to the movie theaters to watch the sequel, which could possibly rebound some good stock market prices. However, these traders might not have taken into account that it has simply been a bit too long since the first Avatar was released. People might not care about the story any longer, and the biggest gripe currently is the whopping 3-hour and 12-minute run time, leaving theater turnover time suffering a great deal more.
Avatar 2 hitting movie theaters saw a major issue apart from the massive runtime, as the biggest talking point of the new movie was the stunning visuals. Those same visuals were echoed in the first movie and seemingly amplified in the sequel, which led to many patrons wanting to use the IMAX or high-res theater option to see the new movie. However, those theaters typically do not have as many seats as a normal showing does, leading to the movie making far less money than was hoped for.
Avatar 2 opened to a decent $134 million in movie theaters this past weekend, which is certainly nothing to scoff at, though it is looking as though it might not turn into the “fourth highest-grossing movie of all time.” That is what James Cameron has stated that his beloved sequel must do to allow him to continue making movies with the franchise, which is reportedly already working on its sixth and seventh movies. It could be that people are wanting to wait a bit until the weekend crowds die down to see the movie, and then it will start raking in the proverbial dough in the coming weeks.
Whatever happens, stock market traders might want to stop thinking that a singular movie is going to be the thing to make theater chains rise in price per share, and start planning for when huge blockbusters come out all at once. Avatar 2 might have hit movie theaters with a ton of promise behind it, but it has a long way to go, even with its current $441 million worldwide box office gross. Still, it is only the first weekend of release, so this sequel could turn into a monster of a movie in the coming weeks, much as the first one did.
