Early tracking estimates for Avatar: The Way of Water show the sequel starting off with a bang. Current projections point to director James Cameron's latest flick to open with between $150 million to $175 million--a notable difference domestically against the original that made $77 million initially.

Variety, the site behind these numbers, added that Avatar: The Way of Water has already sold $38 million in advance ticket sales. That puts the sequel in front of Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion but trailing Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness as well as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Those Marvel Cinematic Universe movies saw $181 million and $180 million, respectively, in their opening weekends.

Looking past this weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water won't have much competition in the blockbuster space in the coming months. Babylon, starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, and the horror film M3GAN appear to be the strongest challengers for the next month. What might hurt the Avatar sequel, though, is a running time of three hours and 12 minutes.