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.
Avatar 2s first-place North American run has only been matched by the first Avatar, and, in the past 25 years, bested by Titanic (which stayed in first place for 15 weeks). All three were directed by James Cameron.
Globally, The Way of Water has now grossed an estimated $2.1 billion, passing Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to become the fourth-highest grossing film of all time (of which Cameron has directed three).
Second place went to Universal and DreamWorks family-oriented offering Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, which made $10.6 million in its sixth weekend. The animated spinoff has earned over $140.8 million in North America and was recently made available to stream at home, too.
Third place went to Sonys A Man Called Otto with $6.8 million from 3,957 locations. The Indian film Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Kha in his first role in five years, took fourth place.
And the meme-able horror M3GAN, a Universal release, rounded out the top five with $6.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $82.3 million.
Neon also debuted the horror movie Infinity Pool, written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg and starring Mia Goth and Alexander Skarsgård, in 1,853 locations following its Sundance debut. The romantic comedy Maybe I Do, with Diane Keaton, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandan, made $562,000 from 465 screens. And Lukas Dhonts Cannes-winning boyhood drama Close opened on four screens in New York and Los Angeles, earning $68,143.
Many studios boasting best picture nominees also chose to capitalize on the buzz of Tuesdays Oscar nominations with sizable re-releases. Everything Everywhere All At Once, which got a leading 11 nominations, came back to theaters in force playing on 1,400 screens where it earned another $1 million. The A24 release has made $71 million domestically to date. Steven Spielbergs The Fabelmans, nominated for seven Oscars, also expanded to 1,962 screens in North America and took in an additional $760,000, bringing its domestic total to $16 million. And Sarah Polleys Women Talking also added a few hundred screens, earning $1 million over the weekend. Its made $2.4 million to date. The Oscar boosts could continue over the coming weeks, too the show isnt until March 12.
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 doesnt arrive in theaters until Feb. 17.
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter examining what leaders need to succeed. Sign up here.
