LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Avatar: Path of Water” topped the box office in its second weekend, bringing in what studios estimate will be a whopping $56 million in North America on Sunday — a sign that the sequel could stand. floats into the new year and lives up to the huge expectations that met its release.
James Cameron’s digital extravaganza for 20th Century Studios grossed $253.7 million domestically in its first 10 days, compared to $212.7 million over the same period for 2009’s first “Avatar,” which would become the highest-grossing great 2009 movie of all time.
While Cameron’s films like the original “Avatar” and “Titanic” tend to have serious legs at the box office, sequels tend to open big and fall fast, complicating speculation about where the film will go. The drop in its second weekend from the $134 million it earned in its first wasn’t sudden, given the way blockbusters open.
“This is James Cameron’s first $100 million opening,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “The fact that this movie opens so wide and only declines 58% shows it has staying power.”
Globally, “The Way of Water” is already the third-highest-grossing film released in 2022, taking in $855 million — behind only “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World Dominion” — and is a tie which exceeds 1 billion dollars. .
It’s also clear that the film is looking to the future, with more time for the holidays and no comparable competition until February when Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is released.
Still, storms in the United States could keep people at home.
“The biggest enemy facing Avatar right now is time,” Dergarabedian said.
Universal’s animated Shrek spin-off “Puss in Boots: The Death Wish,” starring the voices of Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, finished in second place with $11.35 million in its opening weekend.
Sony’s biopic “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” came in third with $5.3 million.
The biggest disappointment of the weekend was “Babylon,” the first Hollywood epic from “La La Land” director Damian Chazelle, starring Brad Pitt and Margo Robbie. In a domestic release, it grossed just $3.5 million, finishing in fourth place.
The hot $6.5 million opening weekend in October for director David O. Russell’s “Amsterdam,” another film set in a similar period that combined prestige, scale, star power and a famous auteur, brought concerns in the industry that audiences were not crowding theaters for such films.
Concerns proved justified, as “Babilon” barely made more than half of “Amsterdam”‘s opening.
The next few weeks in theaters, streaming shows and possible nominations could help “Babylon” move past bombshell status.
“I would say Babylon is a movie that’s not about opening weekend,” Dergarabedian said. “We’ll have to see what he does over the next few weeks and then into the new year, especially if he gets more awards.”
Estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales in US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, with Wednesday-Sunday in parentheses. Final national data will be published on Monday.
1. “Avatar: Water Street,” $56 million.
2. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” 11.35 million.
3. “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” $5.3 million.
4. “Babylon,” $3.5 million.
5. “Riolent Night,” $3.14 million.
6. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” $3 million.
7. “The Whale,” $924,000.
8. “The Menu,” $617,000.
9. “The Fabelmans,” $550,000.
10. “Strange World,” $410,000.
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton.
