173 days. That's how long it took Avatar: The Way of Water to get to Disney Plus. Disney's stretched this streaming release out for a while, with the 2022 box office champ only having hit digital on-demand this past March.
In Disney's announcement, it touted the "nearly $2.32 billion" USD earned at the box office, as well as its Academy Award nominations. The third-biggest movie of all time, The Way of Water's sales are only topped by Avengers: Endgame (No. 2 with $2,799,439,100) and the original Avatar (No. 1 at $2,923,706,026).
Interestingly enough, this long wait isn't the standard. The highly-successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits digital on May 16, which is 41 days after its theatrical release. Its worldwide box office gross since its April release currently total $1.2 million USD. The second Avatar took 102 days to hit digital on-demand.
How to watch Avatar: The Way of Water online right now
Can't wait? Want to own Avatar: The Way of Water? It is currently available for digital purchase on Amazon, Apple and Vudu — where it costs $19.99 to own.
Analysis: Why Avatar: The Way of Water arrived on Disney Plus earlier than anticipated
We had thought The Way of Water would take longer to get here.
Top Gun: Maverick took 7 months to hit Paramount Plus, and it was behind The Way of Water, as the second-biggest movie of 2022 ($1.5 million worldwide). That gap had us predicting Avatar: The Way of Water would arrive on Disney Plus on July 14, 2023.
Disney managed to beat that guess by 5 weeks, but its earlier arrival makes some sense. Disney Plus is in between big titles right now.
Its next big title is American Born Chinese, coming on May 24th. It may have Everything Everywhere All At Once's Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu, but it's not a Star Wars or a Marvel show, so it may be harder to drum up hype for.
Disney Plus is waiting until June 21st for Marvel's Secret Invasion and until August for Star Wars: Ahsoka. Having something big to drop in early June? That's a great way to keep people on Disney Plus.
