“Avatar: The Way of Water” took #1 on the domestic box office chart for the seventh consecutive week with an additional $15.7 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Overall, it was a quiet weekend, most notably the Hindi blockbuster “Pathaan” which made the top 5 and post-Oscar nominations re-released movies like “Everything Anywhere All At Once” and “The Fabelmans”.
“Avatar 2” North American first prize only the first “Avatar” has matched, and in the past 25 years, surpassed “Titanic” (which has been in first place for 15 weeks). All three were directed by James Cameron.
Globally, “The Way of Water” has now grossed an estimated $2.1 billion, surpassing “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time (with Cameron in it). directed three films).
Second place belongs to Universal and DreamWorks family film Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, earned $10.6 million in its sixth weekend. The animated spin-off has earned over $140.8 million in North America and was also recently available to stream at home.
Third place went to Sony’s A Man Called Otto with $6.8 million from 3,957 theaters. The Indian film “Pathaan,” starring Shah Rukh Kha in his first role in five years, took fourth place.
And the meme-able thriller M3GAN, released on Universal, broke into the top five with $6.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $82.3 million.
Neon also released the horror movie “Infinity .” Pool,” written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg and starring Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård, at 1,853 locations after its Sundance premiere. The romantic comedy Maybe I Do, starring Diane Keaton, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandan, earned $562,000 from 465 theaters. And Lukas Dhont’s Cannes-winning teen drama Close opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, grossing $68,143.
Many of the studios boasting best picture nominations also chose to capitalize on the buzz of Tuesday’s Oscar nominations with sizable re-releases. “Everything everywhere at once,” received leading 11 nominations, returned to theaters when it screened in over 1,400 theaters and grossed an additional $1 million. The A24 release has earned $71 million domestically to date. Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, also expanded to 1,962 theaters in North America and grossed an additional $760,000, bringing its domestic total to $16 million. And Sarah Polley’s Women Talking also had a few hundred more screens, earning $ 1 million in the weekend. It has earned $2.4 million to date. The Oscars price hike could also continue in the coming weeks — the show won’t run until March 12.
Some of the weekend’s most popular releases were all star-driven comedies streaming: Netflix features “You People” with Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill and Lauren London and Amazon Prime Video offers “Shotgun Weddings,” featuring Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Coolidge.
Seven days into the Avatar 2 weekend, theater owners also likely looking for the next big blockbuster, there’s still a long way to go. “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” won’t hit theaters until February 17.
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