Avatar: The Way of Water: How much the James Cameron film is making per minute of runtime

Here’s how much each minute of Avatar: The Way of Water has made - the answer may shock you
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The Avatar franchise returned to cinemas with Avatar: The Way of Water and has been crushing the box office since its release on December 16, 2022. James Cameron returned to direct the film, and there was some concern over whether the film would turn a profit following the massive success of its predecessor.

Avatar: The Way of Water had a budget of £207m and needs to make £2.6b at the box office to match its predecessor bearing in mind that Avatar has a production budget of £196m. Still, the film has only been out for a matter of weeks and has quickly climbed the rankings into some of the best selling films of all time.

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With that in mind Saxo gathered data to find out which movie franchise is the best return on investment based on both cumulative and average profit made at the box office as well as working out the most profitable film per runtime ever released.

With a £2.4b revenue in 2009 and a 92.86% profit margin, Avatar (2009) is simply the best performing film at the box office, overtaking the MCU’s Avengers: End Game by £100m when it was re-released in cinemas 2022.

Avatar: The Way of the WaterAvatar: The Way of the Water
Avatar: The Way of the Water

The first Avatar film which was released in 2009 is the most profitable film per minute of runtime, making a massive £13,476,265 per minute.

So, what movies are the most profitable films per minute? Here’s a breakdown of the best-selling movies per minute.

How much Avatar: The Way of Water makes per minute of it’s runtime

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Currently, Avatar: The Way of Water has made a massive £6,324,706 for every one of the 192 minutes of the film’s runtime.

Profit per minute of the 10 highest grossing films worldwide

Profit per minute was calculated by dividing the box office profit (worldwide box office - budget) by the runtime of the films. Based on this method here are the most profitable films:

  1. Avatar - 162 minutes - £13,476,265 (2009)
  2. The Lion King - 87 minutes - £13,079,788 (2019)
  3. Avengers: Endgame - 182 minutes - £10,789,451 (2019)
  4. Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens - 136 minutes - £10,603,419
  5. Avengers: Infinity War - 149 minutes - £9,621,846 (2018)
  6. Jurassic World - 124 minutes - £9,621,534 (2015)
  7. Spider-Man: No Way Home - 148 minutes - £9,474,555 (2021)
  8. Titanic - 194 minutes - £8,487,366 (1997)
  9. The Avengers  143 minutes - £7,397,777 (2012)
  10. Avatar: The Way of Water - 192 minutes - £6,324,706 (2022)
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