Though it’s been a relatively uneventful 2023 so far, the domestic box office is already sitting at $512 million, just over half a billion. Fueling this success have been the Christmas releases Avatar: The Way of Water and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which continues to dominate, and this year’s first major success, M3gan. Though not as big a hit, the Tom Hanks vehicle, A Man Called Otto, is contributing by continuing to overperform.
Last weekend’s new entry Plane, starring Gerard Butler, has already faded with a newer release jumping higher onto the Top Five, Missing, directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick (both first-time helmers), which landed at #3. Missing serves as a sort of sequel to 2018’s Searching, which was a “micro hit” for Sony, earning $75.6M on a budget of $800,000. The first film starred John Cho. Storm Reid fronts the follow-up.
The budget for the second film is considerably higher at $7M, but in its first weekend, it earned an impressive $9.3M.
Reactions have been positive. Missing‘s Rotten Tomatoes score is 82%, while its audience score is higher at 91%. Exiting audiences gave it a B via CinemaScore, while they ranked it 81% positive on PostTrak.
Avatar: The Way of Water is still on top, but it is cooling off, now that we’re a few weeks into the New Year and things are starting to “get back to normal.” It’s still grossing in the double digits, earning another $19.7M. That brings its domestic total to $597.9M. Worldwide, it’s now sitting at $2.024 billion. This makes it the sixth-highest-grossing picture of all time, hovering just under Avengers: Infinity War which took in $2.05B.
Nothing is opening next weekend to give The Way of Water or any of the other movies playing now any competition. Then again, considering that it’s winter in most of the country, people always have to option of just staying home. Even so, The Way of Water is likely to continue to stay on top, regardless of diminishing returns.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish remains at #2, earning an additional $11.5M, for a total of $126.4M. This movie is already available to stream, although at a premium price. But as mentioned, now that winter is ramping up, families may be staying home more and that may be a more appealing alternative in the weeks to come.
M3gan was parodied on Saturday Night Live this weekend, cementing its place as the pop culture phenomenon of the moment. A sequel, M3gan 2.0 has already been announced, to be released in January of 2025. (I’m really miffed they didn’t name it “M4gan.” That’s a no-brainer!)
However, perhaps because Missing appeals to much of the same demographic as M3gan — teenage girls and young women– the newer flick narrowly edged out M3gan. Maybe because a lot of that audience has already seen it. In its third weekend, M3gan landed at #4 with $9.1M, just $0.2M behind Missing, bringing its running total to $72.6M.
As mentioned, A Man Called Otto continues to serve as alternative programming, drawing older crowds, particularly in the more conservative parts of the country– the midwest and south. The film itself isn’t conservative or old-fashioned, but Tom Hanks is a comforting presence that appeals to older viewers who want to avoid overly-politicized subject matters.
Below are the Top Five:
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- Avatar: The Way of Water (Disney) – 3-day $19.7M/ Total $597.9M/ Wk 6
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal) – 3-day $11.5M/ Total $126.4M/ Wk 5
- Missing (Sony) – 3-day $9.3M/ Wk 1
- M3GAN (Universal) – 3-day $9.1M/ Total $72.6M/ Wk 3
- A Man Called Otto (Sony) – 3-day $9M/ Total $35.3M/ Wk 4
I don’t believe there are ANY wide releases next weekend. Will you be checking anything out? Any recent releases you have been putting off seeing? Anything you want to see again?
