Box Office Performance - Disney's "Avatar: Fire and Ash" opened with $88 million domestically, falling short of expectations of $110 million to $125 million [1] - The film's global opening weekend total reached an estimated $345 million, with $257 million coming from international markets [2] - Approximately 5.2 million domestic moviegoers attended the opening weekend, a decline from 8.7 million for "The Way of Water" [3] Comparison with Previous Installments - "Avatar: The Way of Water" grossed $134 million in its opening weekend in 2022, while the original "Avatar" made $77 million in its opening weekend but went on to earn $2.9 billion globally [1][3] - "The Way of Water" ran for 23 weeks and grossed $2.3 billion globally, indicating a trend of long box office runs for the franchise [4] Factors Influencing Performance - The film's over-three-hour runtime and reduced pent-up demand compared to previous releases were noted as challenges [2] - Analysts pointed out that "Fire and Ash" lacks the technological innovation that drove ticket sales for earlier films in the franchise [2] - Premium large-format ticket sales, including IMAX and Dolby, accounted for 66% of the weekend total, indicating strong performance in experiential formats [5] International Market Dynamics - While 3D films have seen a decline in domestic popularity, they remain favored internationally, particularly in markets like China [6]

Core Viewpoint - Cat's Eye Entertainment (01896) saw a stock increase of over 5%, currently trading at 7.08 HKD with a transaction volume of 78.73 million HKD, driven by the announcement of the film "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Chapter 1" set to release in mainland China on November 14 [1] Group 1: Film Performance - The film "Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Chapter 1" has generated significant anticipation, achieving the status of the highest-grossing film in Japanese history globally and ranking among the top five in the global box office for 2025 [1] - The film has recorded over 142,000 new "want to watch" entries on the Cat's Eye platform in a single day, setting a new record for animated films on the platform [1] Group 2: Market Analysis - Longjiang Securities noted that while the company has achieved revenue growth, the overall market remains sluggish, necessitating attention to the performance of films in the second half of the year [1] - The company is expected to recover overall profits if key projects like "Wang Wang Mountain Little Monster" and "The King's Avatar: For the Glory" perform well, along with a series of new films scheduled for release in the latter half of the year [1] - CICC recommends continued monitoring of the box office performance of upcoming films, particularly the key imported films slated for year-end release [1]