The Christmas weekend is traditionally pretty lucrative for the box office as people head to the theater after wrapping up their familial festivities. Unfortunately, this year, the midwest and northeast were blanketed with snow, thanks to Winter Storm Elliott. In certain areas, driving for any reason was banned. But even in places where driving wasn’t banned, many people just wanted to stay indoors instead of venturing out into negative temperatures, ice, and snow.
That said, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water still managed to outperform expectations. Going into the weekend, this sequel was eyed to take in $21.5 million over four days. It wound up earning $29.5M, bringing its domestic total to $279.7M. Worldwide, its total has now passed $850M, well on its way to the billion-dollar mark, which it may cross before next weekend.
Also beating expectations was this weekend’s #2 movie and the highest-ranking new entry, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It helps that this is part of the beloved Shrek franchise. Even better, it’s just a good movie that appeals to a broad audience. Its Rotten Tomatoes critics score is 95% and its certified audience score is 93%. Exiting audiences gave it an A via CinemaScore and PostTrak viewers gave it 89% positive.
Over the four-day weekend, Puss in Boots took in $17.77M. This film opened early, on Wednesday, so its running total is $24.6M. While this is a good opening, I must point out that Disney’s “flop” Strange World had a better opening of $18.6M over Thanksgiving weekend. But expect Puss in Boots to leg out better over the next month or so, thanks to better word of mouth.
Refreshingly, the #3 and #4 movies were also new entries. However, while some were willing to venture out in snowy weather to see a spectacle like Avatar or an anticipated family flick like Puss in Boots, they weren’t willing to head out to much more, so their totals come in much lower.
The #3 movie is the Whitney Houston biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody which earned $6.8M. While Avatar and Puss in Boots overperformed, I Wanna Dance With Somebody vastly underperformed, coming in with almost half of the $12M it was projected to make.
Lousy reviews might have scared many, as its RT score is 46%.  However, this is a case where the audience fully disagrees with the critics. On RT, its certified audience score is 90%. Exiting viewers gave it an A via CinemaScore and 4½ stars and 88% positive via PostTrak.
Unfortunately, audiences and critics are in lockstep when it comes to Damian Chazelle’s dead on arrival Babylon which boasts an all-star cast headed up by Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt. This had previously been eyed as an awards season contender, which is why it was released late in the year. Instead, the only prize this picture might nab is a Golden Raspberry.
Babylon‘s RT critics score is 56% and its audience score is even worse at 48%. Via CinemaScore, viewers gave it a C+, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 74% positive rating.
Over four days, Babylon made $5.3M on a budget of $80M, making this quite a flop.
In its seventh weekend, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned an additional $4.7M bringing its domestic running total to $427.3M.
Check out the Top Five below:
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- Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney/20th Century) – 4-day $29.5M/ Total: $279.7M/ Wk 2
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – 4-day $17.77M/ Total $24.6M/ Wk 1
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) – 4-day $6.8M/ Wk 1
- Babylon (Paramount) – 4-day $5.3M/ Wk 1
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) – 4-day $4.7M/ Total $427.3M/ Wk 7
No major movies are coming out next weekend and all of January is pretty dry as well, so expect Avatar and Puss in Boots to coast well into the new year. The next major movie will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which doesn’t arrive until February 17.
What movies are you making a resolution to see in the new year?
