AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER held onto the top spot at the box office for the sixth weekend in a row, with a three-day gross of $19.7M and a decline of 40% from last weekend’s results. James Cameron’s Sci-Fi sequel has grossed $598M since it opened on 12/16.
Last week we projected that its total Domestic run wind up at $650M and we are still holding to that number. However, AVATAR 2’s streak of winning the weekend will most likely end in two weeks with the opening of M Night Shyamalan’s suspense thriller KNOCK AT THE CABIN.
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH clawed its way back to second place with a gross of $11.5M, which represents a gravity-defying drop of only 21% from last weekend’s box office. The animated sequel is on track to earn at least $160M from North American theatres, having already sold $126M in the 31 days since it opened on 12/21. Both AVATAR 2 and PUSS 2 have held up exceptionally well throughout January.
| PUSS IN BOOTS:
THE LAST WISH |
AVATAR: THE
WAY OF WATER |
|
| 12/30 – 1/5 | -20% | -29% |
| 1/6 – 1/12 | -30% | -47% |
| 1/13 – 1/19 | +20% | -23% |
Percentage box office drop compared to the prior week’s results
While AVATAR has grossed higher numbers since it opened, the swashbuckling PUSS has actually maintained its gross more successfully. Amazingly, PUSS 2 actually increased its gross by 20%, making the most of the MLK holiday week. What’s more, Universal and Dreamworks will continue to have the family audience almost entirely to themselves for the next 4 weeks until the 2/23 release of MUMMIES from Warner Bros.
Universal’s horror hit M3GAN took third place with $9.8M, a drop of 46%. Sony’s MISSING took fourth place in its opening weekend by earning $9.3M. The mystery suspense tells the story of a mother gone missing in Columbia with her new boyfriend and adult daughter trying to locate them from thousands of miles away using the latest technology.
MISSING has received solid scores on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% Tomatometer score from critics and a 90% audience score. It is guaranteed to be a financial win for Sony, having been produced on a budget of only $7M. Also from Sony, A MAN CALLED OTTO starring Tom Hanks finished in fifth place with a gross of $9M and a drop from last week of 30%.
The momentum continued for 2023 compared to 2022. The total box office for all movies in theatres this weekend was $73.9M, which compares to $46.8M from the same weekend last year when studios had no new wide releases to offer.
