“Avatar: The Way of Water” claimed the No. 1 spot on the domestic box office charts for the seventh weekend in a row with an additional $15.7 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
It was a quiet weekend overall, notable mostly for the Hindi language blockbuster “Pathaan” that broke into the top five and the post-Oscar nominations rereleases of films like “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “The Fabelmans.”
“We are seeing in real time the halo effect of the Oscar nominations on these best picture nominees,” Dergarbedian said. “The Oscar bounce is back, something we haven’t seen over the past couple of years.”
Several of the highest profile releases of the weekend were both star-driven comedies that went straight to streaming: Netflix had “You People,” with Eddie Murphy, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jonah Hill and Lauren London and Amazon Prime Video offered “Shotgun Wedding,” with Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel and Jennifer Coolidge.
Seven weekends into “Avatar 2,” theater owners are also likely looking for the next big blockbuster, which is still a ways off. “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” doesn’t arrive in theaters until Feb. 17.
But, as Dergarabedian said, “2023 is already looking more like 2019 rather than the last three years."
“This is great news for theaters,” he said. "You have the Oscar bounce in play, an Indian film in the top 5 and ‘Avatar’ breaking records left and right.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, with Wednesday through Sunday in parentheses. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” $15.7 million.
2. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” $10.6 million.
3. “A Man Called Otto,” $6.8 million,
4. “M3GAN,” $6.4 million.
5. “Pathaan,” $5.9 million.
6. “Missing,” $3.8 million.
7. “Plane,” $3.8 million.
8. “Infinity Pool,” $2.7 million.
9. “Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist,” $2.4 million.
10. “The Wandering Earth 2,” $1.4 million.
