The good news is, box office sales were over $100 million this past weekend, the bad news is, we are still not reaching pre-covid numbers in theaters. 2018-2020 grossed between $130-$197 million, with lower ticket prices during MLK weekend.
The winners this past weekend were Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney) the #1 movie at the box office for the fifth weekend in a row, with a three-day gross of $31M, and M3GAN (Universal), which took second place with $17.9M in its second weekend. The two films accounted for about half of that $100 million total.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish finished in 3rd place with a gross of $13.4M, with just a tiny drop of 1% from last weekend even with its second week of premium video on demand. The animated sequel now is on track to earn at least $130M in theaters, having grossed $106M already since it opened 4 weeks ago.
Sony’s A Man Called Otto finished #4 in its first weekend in wide release. The Marc Forster directed film, starring Tom Hanks opened on 12/25 with a very limited 2-week run at four select locations, followed on 1/6 with a moderate expansion to 637 theaters, and then finally went wide this weekend to 3,802 locations.
Hanks plays a grumpy widower Otto Anderson, who meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol (Mariana Treviño), who moves in next door, which leads to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.
The slow rollout seems to have really paid off and has managed to put the film in the top half of the top ten in its 3rd official week at the box office and even after lackluster critics reviews. Rotten Tomatoes audience scores are significantly higher and the film has a 97% audience score.
Lionsgate’s Plane debuted at the #5 spot with $10M. The movie tells the story of Brodie Torrance, a pilot played by Gerard Butler whose heroic actions save the passengers on his plane by landing it on a desolate island.
Unfortunately, it winds up being an island controlled by a military faction that is unfriendly to the survivors. With help from Louis Gaspare (Mike Colter), a convict who was being transported on the plane, Butler’s character takes on whatever comes their way.
House Party (Warner Bros. Discovery) did $3.9M in 1,350 theaters and took over the #6 spot for its opening weekend. The New Line production was originally intended for an HBO Max debut, however it ended up with a theatrical release.
Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is still holding on to a top ten hold in the #7 spot after 10 weeks in theaters and earning close to a half a billion dollars ($449,096,000) cumulative.
The Whale (A24), which earned Brendan Fraser a Golden Globe nomination for best actor, is still holding on the top 10 after 6 weeks in theaters. The Darren Aronofsky directed film is in the #8 spot, slipping down from last week from the #6 place.
REELated:
1. Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney) Week 5; Last weekend #1
$31,118,000 (-32%) in 4,045 (-295) theaters; PTA (per theater average): $7,693; Cumulative: $562,919,000
2. M3GAN (Universal) Week 2; Last weekend #2
$17,920,000 (-41%) in 3,605 (+96) theaters; PTA: $4,971; Cumulative: $56,454,000
3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #3; also on PVOD
$13,400,000 (-1%) in 3,687 (-232) theaters; PTA: $3,634; Cumulative: $106,370,000
4. A Man Called Otto (Sony) Week 3; Last weekend #4
$12,650,000 (+201%) in 3,802 (+3,165) theaters; PTA: $3,327; Cumulative: $18,873,000
5. Plane (Lionsgate) NEW – Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 62; Est. budget: $25 million
$10,004,000 in 3,023 theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $10,004,000
6. House Party (Warner Bros. Discovery) NEW – Cinemascore:; Metacritic:41; Est. budget: $(unknown)
$3,900,000 in 1,350 theaters; PTA: $2,786; Cumulative: $3,900,000
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) Week 10; Last weekend #5
$2,184,000 (-38%) in 1,910 (-345) theaters; PTA: $1,143; Cumulative: $449,096,000
8. The Whale (A24) Week 6; Last weekend #7
$1,450,000 (-4%) in 1,500 (+665) theaters; PTA: $1,500; Cumulative: $10,743,000
9. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Sony) Week 4; Last weekend #6
$1,175,000 (-51%) in 2,205 (-979) theaters; PTA: $533; Cumulative: $21,904,000
10. Waltair Veeraya (Independent Indian) NEW; Est. budget: $1.5 million
$1,080,000 in 350 theaters; PTA: $3086; Cumulative: $1,080,000
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