Avatar: The Way of Water is seeking to clinch its fifth weekend at the top of the domestic box office with another solid weekend-to-weekend hold over the holiday season. The epic science-fiction sequel's cumulative domestic gross is now $538 million with a $7 million fifth Friday. It's not holding up as well, but it's still outperforming the first Avatar, which had made about $500 million by the same point.
By Sunday, the movie will have made more than $550 million domestically, and by the end of the extended four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, it is anticipated to have reached $566 million. The Way of Water is expected to increase by roughly $29 million over the typical three-day weekend and $36 million over the four-day holiday period, just 36% less than the previous weekend. The movie has raked in almost $1.7 billion worldwide, making it the most successful release of 2022.
While it is currently behind Top Gun: Maverick domestically ($718 million), the long-awaited sequel, it will surpass The Lion King remake's lifetime earnings ($543 million) by Sunday, moving it up to number 13 on the all-time list. The movie recently surpassed The Dark Knight ($535 million) to take over the 14th spot in domestic box office history.
The second place will go to Universal's M3GAN, which is holding remarkably well for a horror film thanks to excellent reviews and enthusiastic word-of-mouth. After a second Friday gross of $4.8 million, the sci-fi-tinged creepy doll movie is projecting a three-day total of about $17.5 million, with a strong 42% weekend-to-weekend decline. The movie is anticipated to collect more than $20 million over the extended four-day window, bringing its overall domestic gross to just under $60 million. That's a commendable outcome for a movie that supposedly only cost $12 million to make, and it adds another bragging right for Jason Blum's Blumhouse Pictures.
Older viewers are supporting Sony's A Man Called Otto, which stars Tom Hanks in the title character and is an adaptation of the best-selling Swedish book. Hanks recently starred alongside an older target audience in the musical drama Elvis. With a $4 million opening day in broad release, the movie is anticipated to earn $14 million during the long weekend, bringing its domestic running total to more than $20 million. Surprisingly, by Monday, A Man Called Otto will have outperformed star-studded Babylon from filmmaker Damien Chazelle.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, another release from Universal, will take the number four position. Released over a decade after the original Puss in Boots, which itself was a spinoff to the hit Shrek franchise, the sequel added $3 million on its fourth Friday, and is looking at a $16 million four-day finish. But most notably, the film will pass the $100 million mark domestically some time in the next few days. The top five was rounded out by the latest Gerard Butler action vehicle, Plane — a movie whose meme-ability can only be challenged by M3GAN. With $3.5 million on Friday, the movie is looking at a four-day finish between $10.5 million and $11.7 million. With a reported production cost of around $20 million.
The Way of Water won't even come close to matching its predecessor, which is still the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide, but it is doing well thanks to a lack of rivals and sincere viewer enthusiasm, so its performance will last for at least a few more weeks. Visit this page to watch our interview with Hanks, and follow Collider for additional news.
