411 Box Office Report: Avatar: The Way Of Water Crosses $2 Billion, Missing Starts Well

Avatar: The Way Of Water reached rare territory as it topped $2 billion worldwide while leading the domestic box office again. The James Cameron-directed blockbuster came in at #1 for a sixth weekend in a row with $19.7 million, down 40% from last weekend. The film marked the seventh-best sixth weekend of all-time and pushed its totals to $598 million domestically and $2.024 billion worldwide.

The film is now the sixth-highest grossing film of all-time, with just $24 million to go to pass Avengers: Infinity War for the #5 spot. Way of Water is looking likely to finish out around $640 million by the end of its box office run, and still has an outside shot at $650 million. It’s a nice hit for Disney at this point and we’ll be seeing plenty more from the franchise going forward.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish continues to show great legs, with the animated sequel down a mere 21% for $11.5 million in its fifth weekend. The Shrek franchise film started off modestly but is now up to an impressive $126.5 million domestically and $297.5 million worldwide, making it a profitable venture against its $90 million budget plus marketing. The Last Wish is now looking likely to finish out at around $145 million to $150 million, a hit for the studio.

M3GAN continued to roll in its third weekend, as the horror flick was down 46% in its second weekend to $9.8 million. The PG-13 film is a huge hit for Universal, with $73.3 million domestically and $124.6 million worldwide against a budget of just $12 million. The film is likely to close out in the $80 million to $83 million soon. A sequel is already dated for 2025.

The weekend’s sole new release came in at #4, as Missing grossed $9.3 million. That’s a solid start for the ScreenLife film from Sony Pictures, which is a standalone sequel to 2018’s Searching. Tracking coming into the weekend was putting Missing at a mid-single digits number, so this is one that the studio has to be happy with. It’s 50% above the $6 million start of its predecessor.

Missing benefitted from Searching’s positive reception, as well as its own solid regard. Missing had an 83% aggregated score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 91% audience rating. That compares well with the first film’s 92% critic score and 87% audience score.

The film held on well throughout the weekend and that’s a good sign for the film’s potential legs. Missing cost $7 million to produce plus marketing costs, and it should be able to easily make that back. The first film had $26 million domestically, and this one should be able to hit somewhere around that range. It doesn’t open internationally until late next month.

A Man Called Otto eased 30% in its fourth weekend, bringing in $9 million. The dramedy has reached $35.3 million domestically and $55.3 million worldwide, and while it still has a bit to go before it makes back its $50 million budget, it at least has a shot at it. At this point a $50 million domestic gross seems fairly likely.

Gerard Butler’s Plane fell an expected 49% in its second weekend, pulling in $5.3 million. The Lionsgate action-thriller is performing solidly if not great with $19.5 million domestically and $20.4 million worldwide. The film’s budget was a fairly modest $20 million cost, and when the film expands into more international territories it will have a good chance at turning a profit. The domestic total should end out at around $28 million to $30 million.

House Party slipped 55% in its second weekend to bring in $1.8 million. The Warner Bros. remake reps another situation where comedy is not doing well at the box office, as it stands at just $7.2 million domestically after two weekends. There’s no word on the film’s budget, but it should be slipping off of the charts soon and will likely finish out at around $12 million or so.

Coming in at #8 was Crunchyroll’s The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime The Movie: Scarlet Bond. The anime film grossed $1.4 million, a far sight from more high-profile anime openings like One Piece Film: Red ($9.3 million) and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero ($21.1 million). The key here though is that it was never expected to get anywhere close to those numbers. Like most anime, this should disappear off the top 10 pretty quickly.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was down 43% in its 11th weekend with $1.4 million. The MCU film now has $451.9 million domestically and $831.8 million worldwide, with a likely domestic close of $455 million. The budget was $250 million.

The Whale closed out the top 10 with the smallest drop in the top 10, down just 15% to $1.3 million in its seventh weekend. The Brendan Fraser-starring drama has benefitted from its awards buzz for Fraser and is now at $13.2 million domestically. With a budget of just $3 million its doing okay, though it probably had a big budget to campaign for awards. The film will gross over $15 million domestically by the end of its run and perhaps more.

Next weekend will see The Way Of Water reign yet again, with the only new release unlikely to make much of a mark in the horror flick Fear.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Avatar: The Way Of Water – $19.7 million ($598 million total, $2.024 billion WW)
2. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – $11.5 million ($126.5 million total, $297.5 million WW)
3. M3GAN – $9.8 million ($73.3 million total, $124.6 million WW)
4. Missing – $9.3 million ($9.3 million total/$9.3 million WW)
5. A Man Called Otto – $9 million ($35.3 million total, $55.3 million WW)
6. Plane – $5.3 million ($19.5 million total, $20.4 million WW)
7. House Party – $1.8 million ($7.2 million total, $7.2 million WW)
8. The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime The Movie: Scarlet Bond – $1.5 million ($1.5 million total/$1.5 million WW)
9. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $1.4 million/$2.6 million ($451.9 million total, $831.8 million WW)
10. The Whale – $1.3 million ($13.2 million total/$13.2 million WW)