Avatar: The Way of Water is still some time away from its long-awaited premiere, but analysts are already predicting it will dominate the box office-- just not enough to top the unprecedented success of Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick.

As reported by Variety, analytics firm Cinelytic predicts The Way of Water will earn approximately $650 million domestically in cinemas and the same through its home media release. For comparison, the original Avatar earned $772 million at the domestic box office. Meanwhile, Top Gun: Maverick has earned $700 million in the U.S over the course of its theatrical run.

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One of the reasons provided for the Avatar sequel's lesser success when compared to Top Gun, is the fact that the film is being released in 3D, which does not carry the same appeal it might have back in 2009. It's also due to the fact that the Top Gun sequel relied heavily on actor Tom Cruise's star appeal, which is not something The Way of Water possesses. No predictions were reported concerning the film's worldwide box office numbers. Avatar has earned a total of $2.8 billion thanks to a number of re-releases.

Top Gun: Maverick has earned a total of $1.47 billion at the box office worldwide, though there were several major territories it wasn't released in, including China. The film comes over three decades after the 1986 original and follows Pete "Maverick" Mitchell as he attempts to teach the Navy's best pilots and prepare them for what appears at first glance to be a suicide mission.

Avatar: The Way of Water will see the return of Jake Sully and Neytiri, once again played by actors Sam Worthington and Zoë Saldaña, respectively. Actor Sigourney Weaver, who played Dr. Augustine in the 2009 film, will also appear, this time playing Jake and Neytiri's teenage daughter Kiri. But they aren't the only returning cast members from the original. Actor Stephen Lang is back as the villainous Colonel Quaritch, who now inhabits a Na'vi body, as revealed by released stills.

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What Avatar Has to Offer

Filmmaker James Cameron has constantly teased the visual quality of the upcoming film. Most recently, he teased the environment, including water -- which makes up a significant part of the sequel's setting -- will look indistinguishable from real life. "Certainly, water is much more difficult to realize in CG... And our water is mostly CG water, but you won't be able to tell. It looks photo-real. It looks like we just went out to the ocean in Pandora and shot it," he said.

However successful the upcoming sequel is, audiences can expect to see more Pandora in the years ahead. Avatar 3 was shot back-to-back with The Way of Water and Cameron recently confirmed at the D23 Expo fourth instalment has already entered production.

Avatar: The Way of Water is scheduled to be released on Dec. 16.

Source: Variety