‘Avatar 2’ Keeps Rolling on Top in Fifth Weekend

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Avatar: The Way of Water is still drawing audiences at the domestic box office, maintaining its lead against competition as it looks to maintain the No. 1 spot for a fifth weekend.

The sci-fi hit added $7 million from 4,035 locations on Friday, bolstering its total domestic total to an impressive $538.8 million.

The film is looking to add $36 million through the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. For the three-day frame ending Sunday, “Avatar 2” is projecting a drop of roughly 36% from last weekend.

“The Way of Water” is currently outpacing its preceding entry, with a $538 million total that outweighs the roughly $500 million haul that the first “Avatar” had accrued by MLK weekend in 2010.

The Way of Water stands as the 14th-highest grossing film of all time at the domestic box office, with 2019’s The Lion King ($543 million) and 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($608 million) as the next releases to pass in the record books.

The sci-fi sequel is the seventh-highest grossing film ever worldwide, with a global total of $1.7 billion and growing. With continued box office dominance and no high-profile competition on the immediate horizon, “The Way of Water” has a chance at becoming the first film to hit $2 billion worldwide since the start of the COVID pandemic.

“Avatar” isn’t the only film showing signs of strength at the domestic box office though. Universal’s horror-comedy M3GAN looks to land in second place, projecting $20 million over the four-day holiday frame. That’s a very solid hold for the Blumhouse and Atomic Monster production, which debuted to an impressive $30 million last weekend. Buzz remains strong around the film, as audiences keep lining up to meet that dancing, deadly doll.

Beyond those holdovers, the box office saw a group of new releases fending for eyeballs. Coming out strongest is Sony and Columbia Pictures’ A Man Called Otto, which expands wide this weekend, adding more than 3,000 theaters after beginning with a limited release over the holidays. The Tom Hanks dramedy looks to land in third, projecting a $14.9 million haul over the four-day frame to boost its domestic total to $21 million. That’s a very solid number for an adult-oriented original drama during the COVID era. Critics leaned positive on the film, but audiences are proving to be far more receptive.

Projecting a fifth place finish, Lionsgate’s thriller “Plane” took in a $3.5 million opening day from 3,023 locations. The film, carried by reliable action star Gerard Butler, is projecting a finish of $10 million over the four-day holiday frame.

Warner Bros.’ “House Party” will likely open outside of the top five. Initially produced for a streaming debut on HBO Max, the studio has pivoted to a modest wide release across 1,350 locations. The comedy remake is projecting a sub-$5 million opening across the four-day frame, not exactly making a dent at the box office.

Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” looks to take fourth on domestic charts, projecting $16 million for the four-day holiday stretch. For the three-day frame, that’s a minimal 8% drop from last weekend. DreamWorks’ “Shrek” spinoff, which is already available to purchase on digital platforms, has emerged as the rare family film to become a solid success at the pandemic era box office. Now in its fourth weekend, the film will blast past the $100 million domestic mark on Saturday; the worldwide total currently stands at $206 million.

Avatar 2: Long Legs at Box-Office–Seventh-Highest Grossing film Ever Worldwide

‘Avatar 2’ Keeps Rolling on Top in Fifth Weekend

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