411 Box Office Report: Avatar: The Way Of Water Reigns For Fifth Week, M3GAN Stays Strong

The top of this week’s box office charts looked similar to last week as Avatar: The Way Of Water and M3GAN both held on well. The Way Of Water retained its position at the top for a fifth week in a row, bringing in $31.1 million over three days and a projected $38.5 including Monday for the MLK weekend.

That’s a three-day drop of just 32% for the blockbuster, which has now grossed $562.9 million domestically and $1.89 billion worldwide. The Way Of Water is already reportedly at a profit point according to James Cameron and now ranks as the #13 film in domestic gross, and the #7 film in worldwide gross. It is on course to easily pass $600 million domestically, and at this point Titanic’s $659.4 million is still surpassable. Long story short: we have a lot more Avatar coming our way over the next several years.

Meanwhile, M3GAN followed up last weekend’s massive overperformance with a fantastic hold. The PG-13 AI horror flick slipped just 41% in its second weekend to $17.9 million through Sunday and $21.2 million through Monday. That puts the film at $59.7 million domestically and $90.7 million worldwide, making it a smash against a budget of just $12 million.

M3GAN looks likely to match or surpass last year’s Scream in terms of final gross, which would put it in the low $80 million range. Higher is possible, though the film is expected to arrive on streaming early next week so that may limit its final box office. Regardless, this is a huge hit for all involved.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish continued to show strength, as the animated sequel was down just 1% from last weekend with $13.4 million through Sunday and $17.3 million through Monday. The Universal release may have started out soft but it has shown very strong legs even considering the usual week-to-week strength of holidays. The movie now has $110.2 million domestically and $247.4 million worldwide, making it likely profitable against its $90 million budget plus marketing. The Last Wish should be able to close out its domestic run at around $130 million, great numbers for a film that started off at just $12.4 million four weekends ago.

Tom Hanks’s A Man Called Otto expanded to wide release this weekend and overperformed. The dramedy took in $12.7 million through three days and $15 million through Sunday, a big jump from last weekend’s limited release start. Otto has a ways to climb in order to be profitable against a reported $50 million budget, but this performance is a solid start and Hanks pulls a Best Actor nod from the Oscars, it could climb higher. Thus far it has $21.2 million domestically and $33.4 million worldwide, with a $45 million domestic gross or higher likely.

The first new release came in at #5, where Gerard Butler’s action-thriller Plane opened solidly. The Lionsgate film took in $10 million over three days and a projected $11.6 million through Sunday. That’s above the $8 million expectations that the film had going into the weekend, and reps the highest start for Butler since Angel Has Fallen opened to $21.4 million back in August of 2019.

Plane was a modestly-budgeted action flick, with a reported $20 million cost plus marketing. The film is no smash hit with critics, but it is solid at a 73% aggregated critic score on Rotten Tomatoes. The better news for the film is that those who have seen it are liking it; it has a 95% RT audience rating and a B+ CinemaScore. The positive word of mouth has helped it stay consistent throughout the weekend and may help it stretch out over the next couple of weeks.

Butler’s films tend to do well internationally, and Plane could well follow that route but we don’t have the overseas numbers yet. It has only opened in a few markets though, and will roll out over the next few weeks. Domestically it shouldn’t have too much trouble making it to $25 million.

Warner Bros. House Party remake came in at #6, taking in $3.6 million through Sunday and $4.5 million through Monday. The comedy landed about where most expected it to, especially considering the lack of buzz around it. House Party is another example of live-action comedies struggling at the box office; there have been exceptions of course like Ticket to Paradise and The Lost City, but for the most part the genre is looking to streaming & digital for its profit margins.

The home market is definitely where House Party will find any profit. The film is probably not going to get much above $10 million domestically, and probably even less overseas. But it will be heading to home viewing soon and that should help it out. There’s no word on the budget for this one, but Warner Bros. probably won’t end up losing too much and may even make a touch of profit depending.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was down 38% in its 10th weekend with $2.1 million over three days and $2.6 million through Monday. The MCU film now has $449.5 million domestically and $829.5 million worldwide, with a likely domestic close of $455 million. The budget was $250 million.

Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale is holding well, with the Brendan Fraser-led drama off just 4% in its sixth weekend to $1.4 million through Sunday and $1.8 million through Monday as it continued to expand. The film is clearly picking up money from the Oscar buzz for Fraser, with its total now at $11.1 million domestically. That’s a solid level of performance considering the reported $3 million budget, but you also have to factor in what was probably a pretty decently-sized spend for awards campaigning. At this point it seems certain to get to at least $15 million domestically and perhaps higher.

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody is losing steam, down 51% in its fourth weekend to $1.1 million for three days and $1.4 million for four. The musical biopic is now at $22.1 million domestically and $49 million worldwide. The film should close out domestically at around $25 million and won’t be profitable against its $45 million budget.

Tollywood made its latest appearance in the top 10, with the Telugu-language action-comedy Waltair Veerayya bringing in $1 million through Sunday and $1.4 million through Monday. The Bobby Kolli-directed film is the latest to show the strength of Indian cinema at the domestic box office. The film will likely drop off the charts quickly, as has been the case with other such films, but the US box office is always just an extra bonus.

Next weekend sees the arrival of Missing. The standalone sequel to 2018’s Searching is
expected to bring in somewhere in the high single digits, which means Avatar and M3GAN will continue to lead the way.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day & Four-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Avatar: The Way Of Water – $31.1 million/$38.5 million ($570.3 million total, $1.89 billion WW)
2. M3GAN – $17.9 million/$21.2 million ($59.7 million total, $90.7 million WW)
3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – $13.4 million/$17.3 million ($110.2 million total, $247.4 million WW)
4. A Man Called Otto – $12.7 million/$15 million ($21.2 million total, $33.4 million WW)
5. Plane – $10 million/$11.6 million ($11.6 million total, $11.6 million WW)
6. House Party – $3.6 million/$4.5 million ($4.5 million total, $4.5 million WW)
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $2.1 million/$2.6 million ($449.5 million total, $829.5 million WW)
8. The Whale – $1.4 million/$1.8 million ($11.1 million total/$11.1 million WW)
9. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody – $1.1 million/$1.4 million ($22.1 million total, $49 million WW)
10. Waltair Veeraya – $1 million/$1.4 million ($1.4 million total, $4.4 million WW)