Unsurprisingly, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continued its reign at the worldwide box office over the New Year’s holiday.
In fact, the sequel surpassed expectations after picking up $24.4 million on Sunday — the third-best New Year’s Day haul ever behind The Force Awakens ($34.3 million) and the original Avatar ($25.2 million), per Deadline. As such, Cameron’s epic collected $66.8 million (+6%) over the 3-day weekend and $86.3 million over the 4-day holiday to bring its domestic total to $444.4 million.
Even more impressive, Way of Water will surpass the 18-day total of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($440.9 million), a title many in the industry used as a comp for Cameron’s film.
Internationally, Way of Water has accrued $956.9 million, which is enough to put the pic over the $1.4 billion mark globally, and less than $100 million away from overtaking Top Gun: Maverick as the top global earner of 2022 — and it’s only been two weeks.
On Imax, Avatar increased by 4% and earned $28.6 million to bring its 19-day total to $152.2 million, where it sits behind Avatar, The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Endgame in terms of money accrued on the large format.
Clearly, people are digging Avatar, and it’s just a question of how high this pic will fly before all is said and done. Is $2 billion on the table? Unless there’s an enormous drop-off in the upcoming weeks, there’s no reason to think Avatar can’t reach that milestone. Keep in mind there’s zero market competition for the next month and a half.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish earned $22.5 million over the holiday and propelled its domestic total to $66.9 million. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever increased by 38% over the 3-day frame and added another $4.83 million ($6.5 million 4-day) to its $439.6 million domestic haul.
Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10
1) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis/20th) 4,202 theaters, Fri $24.4M (+27%), Sat $18M Sun $21M Mon $18.95M 3-day $63.4M (+2%)/4-day $82.4M/Total: $440.5M/ Wk 3
2) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Uni) 4,121 (+22) theaters, Fri $6.5M (+70%) Sat $4.66M Sun $5.1M Mon $5.4M 3-day $16.3M (+31%), 4-day $21.7M/Total $66.1M/Wk 2
3) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever(Dis) 2,310 (+60) theaters, Fri $1.82M (+82%) Sat $1.3M Sun $1.7M Mon $1.67M 3 day $4.83M (+38%)/4-day $6.5M/Total $439.6M/Wk 8
4) I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) 3,625 theaters, Fri $1.46M (-27%) Sat $1.22M Sun $1.59M Mon $1.15M 3-day $4.25M (-11%) 4-day $5.4M/Total $16MWk 2
5) Babylon (Par) 3,351 (+8) theaters Fri $935K (-36%) Sat $730K Sun $1.06MMon $900K 3-day $2.7M (-24%) 4-day $3.6M/Total $11M/Wk 2
6) Violent Night (Uni) 2,563 (+1) Fri $820K Sat $560K Sun $750K Mon$540K 3
day $2.1M (-39%) 4-day $2.67M Total $48M/Wk 5
7) The Whale (A24) 623 (+20) theaters, Fri $491,5K (+64%), Sat $372,9K Sun $466,1K Mon $419,5K 3-day $1.33M (+28%) 4-day $1.75M Total $6.2M/Wk 4
8) Fabelmans(Uni/Amb) 1,149 (+27) theaters, Fri $320K (+157%) Sat $400KSun $420K Mon $360K 3 day $1.14M (+53%), 4-day $1.5M Total $12.5M/Wk 8
9)The Menu (Sea) 860 (+20) theaters, Fri $386K (+121%) Sat $279K Sun $405K Mon $330K 3-day $1.07M (+58%) 4-Day $1.4M Total $36.4M/Wk 7
10.) Strange World (Dis) 1,240 (-150) theaters, Fri $201K (+39%) Sat $157K Sun $180K Mon $209K 3-day $538K (+30%), 4-day $747K, Total $37.2M/Wk 6
