Box Office: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Keeps Rolling on Top in Fifth Weekend - Variety

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is inactive drafting audiences astatine the home container office, maintaining a important pb against contention arsenic it looks to support the No. 1 spot for a 5th weekend.

Disney and 20th Century Studios’ science-fiction smash added $7 cardinal from 4,035 locations connected Friday, bolstering its full home full to an awesome $538.8 million. The movie is looking to adhd astir $36 cardinal done the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend. For the three-day framework ending Sunday, “Avatar 2” is projecting a driblet of astir 36% from past weekend.

Certainly “The Way of Water” isn’t putting up the benignant of superlative staying powerfulness that its predecessor did: James Cameron’s 2009 vacation merchandise rode the question of connection of rima with a bid of week-to-week drops successful January that ne'er ballooned past 27%. However, “The Way of Water” is presently outpacing its preceding entry, with a $538 cardinal full that outweighs the astir $500 cardinal haul that the archetypal “Avatar” had accrued by MLK play successful 2010.

“The Way of Water” presently stands arsenic the 14th-highest grossing movie of each clip astatine the home container office, with 2019’s “The Lion King” ($543 million) and 2018’s “Incredibles 2” ($608 million) arsenic the adjacent releases to walk successful the grounds books. The sci-fi sequel is the seventh-highest grossing movie ever worldwide, with a planetary full of $1.7 cardinal and growing. With continued container bureau dominance and nary high-profile contention connected the contiguous horizon, “The Way of Water” has a accidental astatine becoming the archetypal movie to deed $2 cardinal worldwide since the commencement of the COVID pandemic.

“Avatar” isn’t the lone movie showing signs of spot astatine the home container bureau though. Universal’s horror-comedy “M3GAN” looks to onshore successful 2nd place, projecting $20 cardinal implicit the four-day vacation frame. That’s a precise coagulated clasp for the Blumhouse and Atomic Monster production, which debuted to an awesome $30 cardinal past weekend. Buzz remains beardown astir the film, arsenic audiences support lining up to conscionable that dancing, deadly doll.

Beyond those holdovers, the container bureau saw a radical of caller releases fending for eyeballs. Coming retired strongest is Sony and Columbia Pictures’ “A Man Called Otto,” which expands wide this weekend, adding much than 3,000 theaters aft opening with a constricted merchandise implicit the holidays. The Tom Hanks dramedy looks to onshore successful third, projecting a $14.9 cardinal haul implicit the four-day framework to boost its home full to $21 million. That’s a precise coagulated fig for an adult-oriented archetypal play during the COVID era. Critics leaned affirmative connected the film, but audiences are proving to beryllium acold much receptive.

Projecting a 5th spot finish, Lionsgate’s thriller “Plane” took successful a $3.5 cardinal opening time from 3,023 locations. The film, carried by reliable enactment prima Gerard Butler, is projecting a decorativeness of $10 cardinal implicit the four-day vacation frame.

Warner Bros.’ “House Party” volition apt unfastened extracurricular of the apical five. Initially produced for a streaming debut connected HBO Max, the workplace has pivoted to a humble wide merchandise crossed 1,350 locations. The drama remake is projecting a sub-$5 cardinal opening crossed the four-day frame, not precisely making a dent astatine the container office.

Universal’s “Puss successful Boots: The Last Wish” looks to instrumentality 4th connected home charts, projecting $16 cardinal for the four-day vacation stretch. For the three-day frame, that’s a minimal 8% driblet from past weekend. DreamWorks’ “Shrek” spinoff, which is already disposable to acquisition connected integer platforms, has emerged arsenic the uncommon household movie to go a coagulated occurrence astatine the pandemic epoch container office. Now successful its 4th weekend, the movie volition blast past the $100 cardinal home people connected Saturday; the worldwide full presently stands astatine $206 million.