Box Office Recap: December 30, 2022-January 1, 2023
Avatar: The Way of Water pulls off the three-peat with another win at the top of the weekend box office.
Looking back at the total box office run for 2022, things, hopefully, can only look up for 2023. Sure, 2022’s overall run of $7.37 billion surpassed 2021’s $4.48 billion, but 2021 was a year that saw the theater industry still reeling from the pandemic (not to mention some questionable day-and-date streaming release decisions from some studios such as Warner Bros. and Disney). Add to that the fact that 2022’s box office performance was still almost half of a pre-pandemic 2019’s $11.36 billion tally, it’s hard to deny that the industry is still trying to get things back on track. That said, there are signs of hope to take into this new year. 2022 still had three films cross the billion milestone – Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water – as opposed to 2021’s sole billion dollar earner Spider-Man: No Way Home. So, while theaters may not be quite out of the woods just yet, Top Gun, Jurassic World and Avatar showed the industry’s not going down without at least a fight.
Rising +0.2% from its prior weekend frame, 20th Century Studios’s Avatar: The Way of Water dominated the box office once again, bringing in $63.4 million domestically over its third weekend in release. So far, the science fiction actioner, from Academy Award winner James Cameron, has earned $440.5 million domestically, surpassing Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($439.6 million). Internationally, The Way of Water has grossed almost a billion just on its own with $956.9 million. This brings its total worldwide performance to $1.4 billion, edging it closer to 2022’s top worldwide grosser Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49 billion).
Of course, it remains to be seen whether The Way of Water can match the $2.74 billion brought in by its predecessor. With studios placing more focus on their “For Your Consideration” pushes for awards season, Cameron’s sequel faces no real competition until Marvel’s release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February. Still, despite its alleged debut “under-performance” of $134.1 million domestically, the film has gone on to gross nearly $1.5 billion globally, so whether or not it matches its predecessor’s run, I’m pretty sure the folks at 20th Century Studios are more than satisfied with this sequel’s results so far.
Finishing in second place, DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish enjoyed a +31.2% bump from its debut weekend with $16.3 million domestically, bringing its total domestic run so far to $66.1 million. Internationally, the film has brought it $68.8 million to bring its global cume to $134.9 million. While it looks unlikely that the animated sequel will match the half billion earned by its 2011 predecessor, the film still has already surpassed its $90 production budget, and with virtually no family-oriented competition standing in its way in the oncoming weeks, signs point to a solid overall run at the box office for DreamWorks’s titular feline hero.
Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever finished in third with $4.8 million domestically over its eighth weekend in release, a +38.3% rise from its previous weekend. Its total domestic run currently sits at $439.6 million. Internationally, the film added an additional $380.5 million, bringing its total worldwide performance to $820.1 million.
Landing in fourth place, TriStar’s biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody finished its second weekend in release with $4.3 million domestically, bringing its total domestic run to $14.9 million. Despite a weak opening, it should be noted that its sophomore frame saw only a -10.8% drop from its debut frame. Combined with an international performance that saw a +29% bump from the prior weekend, this could suggest slow and steady box office legs for the musical biopic of the late pop singer. Still, it has a ways to go before it can pass its $45 million production budget.
Rounding out the top five, Paramount’s Babylon, from Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle, finished its sophomore frame with $2.7 million domestically. This brings its total domestic cume to just $11 million against an $80 million production budget. While the period drama may receive a little bit of a boost from overseas markets that will begin opening the film later this month, its weak domestic showing could end up being the reason it’s unable to make up its pricey production budget.
Opening this weekend, Universal Pictures will open M3GAN, their science fiction horror film from the producing teamup of Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions and James Wan’s Atomic Monster Productions.
* Total worldwide gross listed in parenthesis.
1) Avatar: The Way of Water – $63.4 million, Week 3 ($1.4 billion)
2) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – $16.3 million, Week 2 ($134.9 million)
3) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $4.8 million, Week 8 ($820.1 million)
4) Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody – $4.3 million, Week 2 ($29.1 million)
5) Babylon – $2.7 million, Week 2 ($11.0 million)
6) Violent Night – $2.1 million, Week 5 ($73.4 million)
7) The Whale – $1.3 million, Week 4 ($6.2 million)
8) The Fabelmans – $1.14 million, Week 8 ($13.1 million)
9) The Menu – $1.07 million, Week 7 ($71.2 million)
10) Strange World – $538.0k, Week 6 ($67.5 million)
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