UPDATE SATURDAY MORNING: Update for more analysis and charts Beginning this weekend, midweek, Disney/20th Century Studios/Lightstorm’s Avatar: The Way of Water will easily surpass The Avengers as the #10 highest-grossing film of all time in the US/Canada at US$623.3 million. Directed by James Cameron, the picture is expected to sizzle in between $14 to $16 million for a seventh episode #1 weekend series. Avatar 2’s seven-weekend run at #1 follows on from the original Avatar and the Oscar-winning film On Golden Pond, directed by Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn.
At the end of this weekend, Avatar at $620.9 million appears to have whizzed past domestic grossing of Star Wars: The Last Jedi at $620.1 million to become the 11th highest-grossing film of all time in the US/Canada. With global grossing now at $2.074 billion, Avatar 2 is the fourth-highest-grossing global release of all time, having surpassed Force Awakens’ $2.07 billion, making Cameron the top 3 of the 4 greatest films of all time : Avatar #1 ($2.9 billion), Titanic #3 ($2.19 billion), and Way of Water #4. Avengers: Endgame is #2 worldwide at $2.799 billion .
Of all the Oscar-nominated best films this year, four-time nominated Avatar 2 is the only film expected to bring buckets of cash into Oscar night on March 12 — and given its blockbuster momentum, it really is all organic. Avatar still has all of its Imax and a large portion of PLF. I heard they are ceding their Dolby screens to Universal’s Knock at the Cabin next weekend, hopefully this film will give a little boost to the sleepy winter box office kicking off Presidents Day weekend with the $120 million 4 day launch of Ant- will go into overdrive. Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
In the absence of a major studio-wide theatrical release this weekend, all of the films are grossing around $71.2 million, up 103% from last year when the market was captivated by Omicron and all titles were $35 million recorded.
Among these distributors and images that take advantage of a frame where there are no big studio prices:
Yash Raj’s Indian spy picture Pathaan by Siddharth Anand seems candid $5.75 million at 694 locations in 162 markets. The Hindi, Tamil and Telugu film had a Wednesday start and was due to be submitted $8.4M from Sundance. Movie saw pretty strong numbers in Toronto, NYC, Chicago, Dallas, Vancouver, San Francisco and Seattle. The film follows an Indian spy who takes on the leader of a group of mercenaries who have nefarious plans to target his homeland.
Brandon Cronenberg’s infinity pool. neon
–NEON’s Sundance midnight premiere infinity pool by Brandon Cronenberg eyeing a $3 million Opening in 1,835 cinemas. While the director’s cut of Sundance was NC-17 with scenes of orgies, breastfeeding and several scenes to blush, the theatrical cut is R. This $3 million start is better than Papa David Cronenberg’s $1.1 million Dollar opening last summer for its Cannes premiere Crimes of the Future, also by NEON, and it’s better than this picture’s domestic lifetime of $2.4 million.
Although the Alexander Skarsgard, Mia Goth, Cleopatra Coleman film is 88% fresh among critics, it is C Cinemascore by audiences and 52% by Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak audiences who only 28% recommended it to others. Males are primarily between the ages of 18 and 34, at 60% and 67% respectively. Diversity demos were 57% Caucasian, 24% Latino and Hispanic, 11% Asian/Other, and 8% Black. The film did its business on the coasts, where nine of the top ten cinemas are located. Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin ranked No. 7. I’m told ticket sales fell the deeper you looked into the best markets in NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas and Philly.
Fathom Events Left behind: Rise of the Antichrist viewed by Kevin Sorbo $2.3M in 1,362 cinemas. The film was set in the Faith-based Southern and Midwest Belt, where eight of the top ten runs came from. The only LA theater to make the list was Burbank.
WellGoUSA’s release of the Chinese sequel Wandering Earth II 61 markets had solid numbers in NYC, LA, Boston, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver with $1.3M. The film cracked nearly $70 million when it premiered over the Lunar New Year this past weekend. The film grossed over $352 million in its first week in China. Wow.
Billie Eilish performs during her Happier Than Ever World Tour at The O2 Arena on June 10, 2022 in London, England. Getty
Trafalgar’s release of Billie Eilish: Live on April 2nd is about the same with $1.29 to $1.3 million at 600 locations in 143 markets. The film was shown both inside and outside of major cities.
2. Puss in Boots 2 (varsity) 3,452 (-159) Theaters Fri $2.4 (-13%), 3 days $10.5M (-11%), Total $140.7M/week 6
3.) A Man Called Otto (Sony) 3,957 (+155) theaters, Friday $1.95m, 3 days $6.3m (-28%), total $45.6m, week 5
4.) M3GAN (Uni/Blum) 3,416 (-212) theaters, Fri $1.63M (-39%), 3 days $6M (-38%), Total $81.9M/week 4
5.) Pathaan (Yash) 694 theaters, Friday $1.87M, 3 days $5.75M, total $8.4M/week 1
6.) Missing (Sony) 3,025 theaters for $1.55M (-54%), 3 days $5.075M (-45%), total $16.9M/week 2
7.) Airplane (LG)
8.) Infinity Pool (NEON) 1,835 theaters Fr. $1.1M, 3 days $3M/week 1
9.) Left Behind: Rise…(FATH) 1,362 theaters Fri $1.3M 3 days $2.3M/week 1
10.) Wandering Earth II (Well) 160 theaters, Friday $372,000, 3 days $1.3M/week 1
11.) Billie Eilish (Traf) 600 for $1.29-$1.3 million, week 1
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