'The Way of Water' surges past global US$2b mark

AVATAR: The Way of Water gave no sign of relinquishing its box office domination, taking in an estimated US$19.7 million in its sixth weekend out in North America, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Sunday (Jan 22).

The James Cameron sci-fi epic thus sailed past the US$2 billion mark globally, best in the pandemic era, with accumulated ticket sales of US$598 million domestically and US$1.42 billion internationally.

That makes the Disney/20thCentury film only the sixth movie ever to surpass the US$2 billion mark (not adjusted for inflation), though it still trails the all-time leader, the original Avatar, by US$1.5 billion.

Showing considerable buoyance after five weeks out, Universal’s family-friendly Puss in Boots: The Last Wish rose one spot from last weekend to place second, at US$11.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.

Down one spot was scary-doll thriller M3GAN from Universal and Blumhouse Productions, at US$9.8 million. The film’s title doll, created as a companion to a young orphan, gradually takes on a creepy life of her own.

In fourth spot was Sony’s new release Missing, at US$9.3 million. Storm Reid stars as a teenager desperate to find her mother (Nia Long) after she disappears during a vacation in Colombia.

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David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called that opening “impressive” for a crime thriller, adding, “The reviews are excellent.”

And in fifth, down one spot from last weekend, was Sony’s feel-good A Man Called Otto, at US$9 million. Tom Hanks plays the title curmudgeon, a character based on popular Swedish novel A Man Called Ove.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• Plane (US$5.3 million)
• House Party (US$1.8 million)
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (US$1.5 million)
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (US$1.4 million)
• The Whale (US$1.3 million). AFP