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Posted December 25, 2022 by Mike Tyrkus in News
 
 

Box-Office Weekend: Avatar Still Top Dog


Avatar: The Way of Water held the top spot of the box-office weekend by a margin of $44.6 million as it lifted its two-week total to $253.7 million.

"Avatar: The Way of Water" posterOver its second weekend of release, Avatar: The Way of Water earned $56.0 million. While it was a bit behind the the $134 million opening it enjoyed last weekend, it still was enough to solidly claim the box-office weekend for a second straight week. Debuting in second place was the animated sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with $11.4 million, and an overall total of $17.5 million over the extended weekend. Also debuting over the weekend, and claiming third place as well, was the biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody which brought in $5.3 million during its first weekend of release. Meanwhile, Babylon debuted in fourth place over the weekend with $3.5 million. Dropping from third to fifth place over the weekend was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever which added $3.0 million over the weekend to brings its seven-week total to $425.7 million.

Falling from second-place last weekend all the way to sixth-place this weekend was Violent Night with $1.9 million. The film now lays claim to a four-week total of $40.3 million. The fourth debut this weekend, The Whale, crept into the top ten in its third weekend of release with $921,000 to land in seventh place and bring its overall total to $2.5 million. Falling three spots to finish in eighth-place this weekend, The Menu brought in $617,000 and lifted its six-week tally to $33.8 million. Steven Spielberg and The Fabelmans dropped two spots to finish in ninth place over the weekend with $550,000. This gives the film a seven-week total of $9.7 million. Finally, after finishing in fourth-place last weekend, Strange World tumbled all the way to the tenth spot this weekend with $410,000 as it teeters on leaving the top ten after amassing a five-week total of $35.6 million.

All of this activity pushed four film from last out of the top ten after they appeared there last weekend. Despite finishing in sixth place last weekend, Devotion didn’t make enough to crack this week’s top ten and leaves with a six-week total of $19.1 million. Meanwhile, the eighth-, ninth-, and tenth-place films from last weekend similarly bowed out of the top ten this weekend. Black Adam departs with an overall tally of $167.9 million; while I Heard the Bells leaves with $5.7 million in the back; and, Empire of Light takes a bow after bringing in a total to $705,000.

Weekend Box Office (December 23rd – December 25th)

  1. Avatar: The Way of Water…$56.0 Million
  2. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish…$11.4 Million
  3. Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody…$5.3 Million
  4. Babylon…$3.5 Million
  5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever…$3.0 Million
  6. Violent Night…$1.9 Million
  7. The Whale…$921,000
  8. The Menu…$617,000
  9. The Fabelmans…$550,000
  10. Strange World…$410,000
Mike Tyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.