The 2009 sci-fi film Avatar is currently the highest grossing film of all time with $2.847 Billion worldwide. For 13 years fans gave waited for a follow-up and this December we will finally see what has been happening on Pandora all these years later.

But just before Avatar: The Way of Water releases in theaters fans will have the opportunity to experience the original on the big screen again as Avatar will be re-releasing in theaters just ahead of its sequel.

The only issue being that the film is being de-listed from Disney Plus for a limited time to entice fans to see the film theatrically verses watching it at home. Disney wants to squeeze as much money as they can from the upcoming sequel, that includes forcing you to pay to watch the original beforehand.

Having films re-release theatrically isn’t a new concept. George Lucas did so with the Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in 2012 with the added feature of 3D visuals. Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were meant to have a 3D re-release but the 2012 Disney buyout.

With Avatar re-releasing ahead of its sequel it obviously means that the film will gain more lifetime revenue at the box office. How much extra revenue? Well perhaps it may reach $2.9 Billion since its so close to that number. If they’re lucky and audiences are so excited they could even make it to a record $3 Billion. It all depends on how many markets the re-release is featured. 

Are you planning on seeing the original Avatar on the big screen once more ahead of the long awaited sequel? It’s either that or buy the DVD or BluRay since it currently is unavailable on Disney Plus.

Avatar: The Way of Water releases exclusevly in theaters on December 16th.

Source: Variety