Shares in Disney have dropped by nearly 5% in response to a disappointing debut for its highly anticipated "Avatar" sequel "The Way of Water."

Why it matters: Investors are looking to see whether Disney can increase profitability in its traditional businesses, like theaters and parks, as its streaming losses continue to mount. "Avatar: The Way of Water" needs to bring in at least $2 billion globally over its lifetime to reach profitability.

Its performance will determine whether the famous James Cameron movie franchise lives on past its second installation.

Details: The sci-fi sequel brought in $134 million in its domestic debut, per Comscore, less than the roughly $150 million Disney initially expected.

Disney lowered its full-weekend projections on Saturday after the film brought in $53 million in its first two days domestically.

Despite little competition at the box office over the weekend, the film wasn't able to lure as many moviegoers as previous hits this year.

"The Way of Water" was the sixth-highest domestic opener of the year, following Disney's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ($187 million), Disney's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" ($181 million), Universal's "Jurassic World: Dominion" ($145 million), Disney's "Thor: Love and Thunder" ($144 million) and Warner Bros.' "The Batman" ($134 million).

Yes, but: Despite lower-than-expected results, the film still opened as the top film in every market it was shown in globally, helping it bring in $301 million internationally for a total of $435 million in its worldwide debut.

That total made the "Avatar" sequel the third-highest global weekend debut in the pandemic era, per Comscore.

"Cameron's films have always been marathon runners, not sprinters, so it's the final gross that will be key," Comscore's senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Axios last week.

By the numbers: The first "Avatar," which came out around the same time in December 2009, grossed $77 million during its opening weekend.

Even the most successful of films have an average drop-off of around 40% in their second weekends."Avatar" dropped less than 2% to earn $75 million over that year's Christmas weekend.

"Top Gun: Maverick," the highest-grossing domestic release of 2022, dropped 26% during its second weekend in early June.

Data: Box Office Mojo; Chart: Axios Visuals

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