As Avatar: The Way of Water took the top spot at the box office, James Cameron and his blue brotherhood have a very happy new year for the third week in a row.
According to Comscore, the sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time brought in an estimated $63.4 million over the weekend, bringing its domestic cume to $421.5 million. That brings it inside $16 million of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s eight-week total of $437.9 million so far.
The Way of Water was the highest-grossing international release of 2022 and the second highest-grossing international release since the pandemic began, earning an additional $186.7 million for a global total of $957 million. Last week, Cameron’s blockbuster had already crossed the billion dollar mark worldwide, reaching $1.38 billion.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a movie from Universal, had its second week of release brought its domestic gross to $60.7 million, or $129.5 million worldwide, thanks to $16.3 million in earnings. Wakanda Forever, the third sequel in the top three at the box office, brought in an additional $4.8 million this weekend and $7.4 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $818.4 million.
Whitney Houston: I Want to Hit the dance floor with Someone, the musical biopic came in fourth with $4.2 million and a homegrown gross of $14.8 million; It did slightly better internationally, securing $8.3 million, bringing its global total to $27.9 million. Babylon, Damien Chazelle’s star-studded ode to Old Hollywood, which earned $2.7 million for a domestic total of just $10.1 million, rounds out the top five films of the new year.
The buzzed-about dancing doll-from-hell horror film M3GAN opened internationally in France, Mexico, and Belgium, scaring up $3.3 million, but there were no new releases that opened in the top 10 at the box office this weekend. A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks, opened in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles.
