James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water brought in $56 million this weekend and an additional $26 million on Monday, bringing the film’s current box office total to $280 million after 11 days.
Even with a less than stellar debut in China, The Way of Water’s worldwide cume now stands at $881 million. The sequel should top $1 billion by New Year’s Day, officially becoming the year’s second highest grossing film of the year (second only to Top Gun: Maverick‘s $1.489 billion).
Will The Way of Water approach Cameron’s supposed global “break even” mark of $2 billion before the film exits theaters some time in February or March? It is tough to say at the moment, but the $1 billion in less than three weeks is a positive sign. It appears that ticket buyers are treating the film as more of an event or theme park experience than a traditional film, opting for IMAX and Real 3D experiences. This effect also can be accounted for the strong holds, as people don’t feel the need to rush out to see it, but they are still going to see it.
Second place went to Universal’s Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which has earned $24.7 million through Monday, which is less than expected for an animated film with name recognition. Like Avatar, Puss in Boots may pick up some solid ticket sales mid-week, but Universal had to be hoping for more from this film.
Paramount’s Babylon by director Damien Chazelle opened wide this weekend, and finished in fourth with a B-Movie take in the range of only $5.4 million. The star-studded picture (featuring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie) didn’t do well with critics or audiences, with a 56% on the TomatoMeter, a 48% Audience Score, and a C+ CinemaScore. With an $80 million price tag, Babylon may leave Paramount execs babbling in a corner this holiday season.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever added another $4.7 million to its $427 million domestic total, the best this year for a Marvel Studios feature.
Even though Violent Night is now available on video On-Demand, the film still delivered $2.8 million this four-day weekend, brining the film’s jolly total to $41 million. The modest sleeper hit will most likely exit theaters next week, so if you want to see it on the big screen, do so now.
Come back next week to see where Avatar: The Way of Water’s box office stands, as well as everything else at the cineplex.