In its sixth weekend at the box office, Disney/20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” has passed $2 billion in global grosses, making it the sixth film in history and a record third from director James Cameron to reach the milestone before inflation adjustment. It now stands with a global total of $2.02 billion after adding an estimated $76 million this weekend.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” joins Cameron’s original “Avatar” from 2009 and his 1997 Best Picture winner “Titanic,” along with 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.” It needs just $28 million to pass “Infinity War” for the No. 5 spot on the all-time global charts.
“Avatar 2” added $19.8 million from domestic grosses this weekend, putting its North America total at $598 million. It currently stands 13th on the all-time domestic charts and needs $25 million to enter the top 10. When it does, it will knock out Marvel Studios’ “The Avengers,” which spent nearly 11 years on the top 10 list.
While “Avatar 2” has stood unchallenged at the top of the charts, Universal/DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is showing remarkable legs, adding $11.5 million to bring its total to $126.4 million domestic and $297 million worldwide. This is in spite of the film’s availability as a digital rental, showing how well it is performing with both general and family audiences looking for a good time at theaters.
Another Universal release, Atomic Monster/Blumhouse’s “M3GAN,” is also holding well with $9.8 million in its third weekend, giving the low-budget horror film a $72 million domestic and $127 million global total. Universal has greenlit a sequel for release in January 2025.
In fourth is the weekend’s lone newcomer, Sony/Screen Gems’ screen-based thriller “Missing.” Made on a $7 million production budget and co-produced by Stage 6 Films, the film is a standalone sequel to the 2018 film “Searching” and has opened to $9.3 milllion from 3,025 theaters. The film has a B on CinemaScore to go with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 83% critics and 92% audience and should post a modest theatrical profit for Sony.
Sony’s “A Man Called Otto” completes the top five with a respectable $9 million in its second weekend in wide release. That represents a 34% drop from the film’s Fri.-Sun. total on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend as the $50 million co-financed dramedy now has a $35.3 million domestic total.