“Avatar: The Way of Water” comfortably maintained its lead at the North American box office for the fifth week in a row, grossing an estimated $38.5 million during the long holiday weekend, according to industry observer Exhibitor Relations on Sunday.
That lifted the domestic total for the Disney/20th Century movie, about a blue-skinned species on a faraway moon,”Avatar: The Way of Water” to an astonishing $570 million, on top of a $1.33 billion worldwide total.
“The Way of Water,” a sequel to the top-grossing film of 2009, might be the first picture to make $2 billion globally since the Covid epidemic, according to Variety.
“M3GAN,” a scary-doll thriller from Universal and Blumhouse, came in second place over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, with an estimated $21.2 million. The lifelike doll in question, intended to be a friend for a little orphan girl, develops a disturbing personality of her own.
Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” an animated “Shrek” spinoff, finished third with $17.3 million.
“A Man Called Otto” came in fourth place with $15 million. Tom Hanks starred in the Sony film, a lighthearted version of the Swedish classic “A Man Called Ove.”
And in fifth was a new Lionsgate release, action-thriller “Plane,” at $11.6 million. Gerard Butler stars as a pilot who has to work with a convicted killer (played by Mike Colter) to protect passengers after the plane crash-lands in a remote Philippine jungle controlled by armed militias.
βThe Batman sequelβ will star Robert Pattinson
Rounding out the top 10 were:
“House Party” ($4.5 million)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” ($2.6 million)
“The Whale” ($1.8 million)
“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody” ($1.4 million)
“Waltair Veerayya” ($1.2 million)… AFP