Choose your fighter: ‘Avatar 2’ and ‘M3GAN’ hold on to top spots at the box office
New movies like “Plane” and “House Party” were no match for “Avatar: The Way of Water” and the killer-doll horror “M3GAN” at the box office this weekend. The two holdovers topped the charts again according to studio estimates Sunday.
In first place for the fifth weekend in a row was James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel, which added an estimated $31.1 million through Sunday. That total will likely balloon to $38.5 million by the end of Monday’s Martin Luther King holiday. As of Sunday, the film’s domestic total now rests at $562.9 million (the 13th biggest of all time) and its global total is $1.89 billion. “Avatar 2” needs to pass $1.92 billion to trump “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” currently the sixth highest-grossing film of all time globally.
“There were such huge expectations and a lot of naysayers that opening weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “But ‘Avatar,’ for a James Cameron movie, is moving at lightning speed up the domestic and global box office chart. I think he always knew this would be a $2 billion movie.”
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Second place went to Universal and Blumhouse’s “M3GAN,” which in its second weekend in theaters added $17.9 million through Sunday and an estimated $21.2 million including Monday. The modestly budgeted thriller that cost a reported $12 million to produce has made $59.8 million in North America.
Horror movies typically have steep second weekend drop-offs in ticket sales, but “M3GAN” only fell 41%. Dergarabedian said that’s almost unheard of for a horror picture and shows “world-class staying power.”
Universal also claimed the third-place spot, with “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which audiences continued to seek out in theaters even though it’s available to rent at home. The family friendly animated film added $13.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $110.3 million.
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“A Man Called Otto,” from Columbia Pictures, expanded to 3,802 theaters this weekend, adding $12.7 million through Sunday, and $15 million including Monday, to take fourth place. Directed by Marc Forster, the adaptation of “A Man Called Ove” starring Tom Hanks is proving to be something of a rarity in the theatrical marketplace as an adult-targeted drama that is doing well.
The Gerard Butler action pic “Plane,” a Lionsgate acquisition for release in North America, rounded out the top five with a better-than-expected $10 million in its first three days. In the film, Butler plays a pilot whose crash landing on an island is only the first of his troubles. On the island, most of the passengers are taken hostage. “Plane” got better-than-average reviews with 75% positive from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Sixth place went to the second major new offering this weekend, “House Party,” a reboot of Reginald Hudlin’s 1990 hit that spawned several spinoffs. The film, which made $3.9 million through Sunday from 1,400 locations, was originally intended as a straight-to-HBO Max property but Warner Bros. pivoted to a theatrical release as a gesture to audiences and exhibitors hungry for new films. The R-rated, youth-oriented comedy did not score well with critics.
Overall, the three-day box office total is going to net out around $100 million, which is not quite at pre-pandemic levels but still up some 44% from the same weekend last year.
“January is not going to be the slow month we thought. It’s a great combination of films out there that’s not just dominated by ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’” Dergarabedian said. “Theaters need movies and the studios are supplying those.”
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” $31.1 million.
2. “M3GAN,” $17.9 million.
3. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” $13.4 million.
4. “A Man Called Otto,” $12.7 million.
5. “Plane,” $10 million.
6. “House Party,” $3.9 million.
7. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” $2.2 million.
8. “The Whale,” $1.5 million.
9. “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” $1.2 million.
10. “Waltair Veerayya,” $905,000.
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