Fri. May 3rd, 2024


James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continues to play well even after six weeks of release. The big-budget sequel hauled in $19.7 million over the weekend, which puts its domestic total at $597.9 million. Internationally, the pic has grossed $1.426 billion, meaning its global tally has swam past the $2 billion mark — just the sixth film to do so, per Deadline.

This also means Cameron has now made three of the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time — Avatar ($2.889B), Titanic ($2.207B), and Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.023B). His latest should sneak into the Top 3 before everything is said and settled, just behind Avengers: Endgame ($2.794B).

Per Deadline, China ($229.7M), France ($129.8M), Germany ($117M), Korea ($96.9M), the UK ($81.9M), India ($57.9M), Australia ($55.1M), Mexico ($51.4M), Spain ($47M) and Italy ($45.3M) are the biggest international earners for Cameron’s sequel.

Finally, globally, Avatar has scored $227M from Imax thus far and is now the second highest-grossing film on the large-screen format.

Elsewhere, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish continues to stretch its legs, earning $11.5M in its fifth frame and raising its domestic total to $126.4M. The horror film M3GAN continues to terrify the box office, where it racked up another $9.1M to bring its stateside total to $73.2M.

Sony’s Missing made its debut in 3,025 theaters, where it found $9.3M, while Crunchyroll’s The Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime The Movie: Scarlet Bond achieved $1.459M from 1,468 theaters in its first weekend.

Good word of mouth propelled A Man Called Otto to $9M in its fourth weekend (-30%), bringing the Tom Hanks drama to $35.3M.

All told, the domestic box office landed at $514.7M, which is +39% over this same period last year. The difference? Variety. One look at the Top 10 chart and it’s easy to see the appeal — Avatar appeals to families, Puss in Boots draws younger viewers, M3GAN with teens, A Man Called Otto with older crowds. More of this, please!

Box Office Results: Top 10 Domestic

1.) Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 3,790 (-255) theaters Fri $4.6M (-34%) Sat $9.3M Sun $5.7M 3-day $19.7M (-40%), Total $597.9M /Wk 6
2.) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Uni) 3,611 (-76) theaters Fri $2.75M (-10%) Sat $5.4M Sun $3.2M 3-day $11.5M (-21%)/Total $126.4M/Wk 5
3.) Missing (Sony) 3.025 theaters, Fri $3.4M, Sat $3.6M Sun $2.1M 3-day $9.3M/Wk 1
4.) M3GAN (Uni) 3,628 (+23) theaters Fri $2.6M (-46%)3-day $9.1M (-50%) Total $72.6M /Wk 3
5.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 3,802 theaters, Fri $2.7M (-35%), Sat $3.8M Sun $2.4M, 3-day $9M (-30%)/Total $35.3M/Wk 4
6.) Plane (LG) 3,060 theaters (+37%), Fri $1.56M (-56%) Sat $2.3M Sun $1.3M 3-day $5.3M (-50%), Total $19.5M/Wk 2
7.) House Party (NL) 1,400 theaters, Fri $515K (-63%), $760K, Sun $500K 3-day $1.77M (-55%), Total $7.1M/Wk 2
8.) That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond (Crunchyroll), 1,468 theaters, Fri $697,7K, Sat $507,5K Sun $250K 3-day $1.459M/Wk 1
9.) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Dis) 1,525 (-385) theaters Fri $335K (-36%) Sat $658K Sun $405K 3-day $1.39M (-43%), Total $451.8M/ Wk 11
10) The Whale (A24) 1,591 (+91) theaters Fri $360,9K (-14%) Sat $541,3K Sun $378,9K 3 day $1.28M (-15%) Total $13.1M/Wk 7

By Dave Jenks

Dave Jenks is an American novelist and Veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Between those careers, he’s worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, divemaster, taxi driver, construction manager, and over the road truck driver, among many other things. He now lives on a sea island, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, with his wife and youngest daughter. They also have three grown children, five grand children, three dogs and a whole flock of parakeets. Stinnett grew up in Melbourne, Florida and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico. His next dream is to one day visit and dive Cuba.