Days before its global premiere, Chinese moviegoers got a chance to book tickets for "Avatar: The Way of Water," the sequel to the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar." 

The pre-sale total crossed the 100-million-yuan mark ($14.4 million) in the Chinese mainland three days after tickets became available.

"From the sales data, we can clearly see Chinese fans' passion for this movie," said Mi Ruoxi, the general manager for Wanda Film Holding's New Media Center.

The premiere day box office for the new Avatar installment is estimated to reach 250 million yuan.

As China eases COVID-19 restrictions, theaters in China are hopeful that more moviegoers will come.

Jacky Zhu is a commercial real estate expert who is recovering from COVID-19. He is also a frequent expert speaker at CGTN. He said he would love to watch the new Avatar movie once he fully recovers. 

"I know there are over 10,000 cinemas in China now. That means more than 6,000 to 7,000 cinemas were not open to the audience for various reasons. But since the ease of restriction policies, the operating rate quickly jumped back to more than 70 percent in December. China is stepping back to a new normal synchronizing with the global market, and there is no doubt China is one of the biggest markets for movies and should not be ignored by any key stakeholders industry," said Jacky Zhu, the head of retail research for JLL China. 

And it's not just "Avatar."

A hot season awaits other new movies in China as well.

"During the past three years, COVID has impacted the film industry, including movie theaters. But now, we can see that it is getting better. People may only focus on the release of 'Avatar' now, which has caused a huge boom. But we will continuously release excellent films in the Spring Festival, such as 'Wandering Earth 2.' It is worth looking forward to the Spring Festival movie season. I think we should know that the industry needs time to recover, at least for the next year," said Mi. 

China still leads the world movie market, with only half its box-office sales before COVID. Huge potential exists as China eases COVID restrictions, but a full recovery will require lots of patience and effort.