James Cameron’s sci-fi sequelAvatar: The Way of the Waterdominated at the box office on Christmas even as a massive winter storm kept audiences at home.
Severe weather is hitting much of the United States with freezing temperatures, high winds and blankets of snow, contributing to low movie attendance. For theater owners, it’s a particularly disappointing coda through 2022 as they rely on the holiday season for bustling attendance. Hollywood was already worried that revenue would be depressed because Christmas Eve falls on Saturday and Christmas lands on Sunday, squeezing weekend numbers. With bad weather, as well as growing concerns over cases of COVID, the RSV virus, and the flu, a trio of new releases failed to resonate at the box office.
The three major novelties – Paramount’s glitzy showbiz epicBabylon“,”Universal and DreamWorks Animated”,”Puss in Boots: The Last Wishand Sony’s Whitney Houston biopic “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” — plus sequel “Avatar” will try to catch up next week. Many Americans take off between Christmas and New Years, so it’s a popular time to go to the movies.
Even with adverse circumstances, “Avatar: The Way of Water” managed to pull in decent numbers, earning $56 million from 4,202 North American theaters over the traditional weekend. He is looking to raise $82 million between Friday and Monday, which would bring his national total to $278 million. The first “Avatar” faced similarly inclement weather when it opened in December 2009, but that didn’t stop the film, over time, from smashing records with $760 million in America. North and $2.92 billion worldwide.
With promising business during the week, the “Avatar” sequel grossed $601 million internationally and $855.4 million globally, making it the fifth highest-grossing film of 2022 after just 10 days in theaters. By the end of the year, the $350 million budget tentpole aims to hit the $1 billion mark. Only two other movies, “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Jurassic World: Dominion,” managed to hit that benchmark this year.
Away from Pandora, the R-rated “Babylon,” directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, bombed $3.5 million from 3,343 theaters over the weekend and around 5.3 million dollars until Monday. The film’s particularly terrible start, as well as its “C+” Audience CinemaScore, suggest that even with the winter blues, the 3 hour, 9 minute “Babylon” may not have resonated on the big screen.
That’s a problem because the film costs an estimated $80 million to produce and tens of millions more to market, meaning the Oscar hopeful will turn into a loser unless business picks up in the next few days. The film’s international release in late January should help ticket sales. But barring a reversal of fortune, “Babylon” might be the only flaw in Paramount’s surprisingly bright year at the box office, with hits ranging from “Top Gun: Maverick” to chilling thriller “Smile.”
David A. Gross, who runs film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research, suggests there’s still room for optimism about “Babylon,” an over-the-top ode to Hollywood. “The film will get a boost if it gets big award nominations,” he says.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a sequel set in the Shrek universe, landed second place with $11.3 million from 4,099 locations over the weekend and roughly $17.7 million until Monday. Since the film’s release on Wednesday, those ticket sales would bring its domestic total to $24.6 million. The film grossed $32.5 million internationally and $57.2 million worldwide. Without any competition from family movies until “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opens in April 2023, the second “Puss in Boots” hopes to stay strong in the new year.
“It’s a lovely movie, and our audience reaction scores are stellar,” said Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr. “We’re going to have a stellar week.”
By comparison, the original “Puss in Boots” opened to $34 million in 2011 and ultimately grossed $554 million worldwide, enough to earn a sequel. Since the $90 million budget sequel, about a swashbuckling feline, garnered strong reviews and an “A” CinemaScore, analysts believe the weather has played a significant role in ticket sales. lower than expected. The follow-up was hoped to bring in $30 million during its annual weekend.
“This opening was pretty much canceled by extreme weather conditions,” adds Gross. “With the schools on vacation, the film can recover some of its business next week.”
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody” secured third place with a disappointing $5.3 million from 3,625 theaters over the weekend and between $7.5 and $9 million through Monday. Heading into the weekend, “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “Babylon” were each expected to earn between $12 million and $15 million over the extended holiday. It cost $45 million, less than the others in major releases, so the musical film won’t take that much to turn a profit. And audiences seemed to enjoy the film, in which Naomi Ackie plays late pop icon Whitney Houston, awarding her an “A” CinemaScore, which is a good sign for her big-screen prospects.
Overall, the domestic box office collected $86 million over the weekend, according to Comscore. Christmas Day is expected to gross just $34.4 million, making it the lowest-grossing holiday (aside from 2020, when most theaters were still closed) in two decades.
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