At $90 mn, James Cameron's 'Avatar' sequel stays atop box-office over Christmas weekend

Pulling in an estimated $90 million, 'Avatar: The Way of Water' has blown away the competition even as a massive storm kept millions at home over the four-day Christmas weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Monday.

The James Cameron sci-fi sequel has now earned 20th Century $287.7 million domestically, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film of 2022.

But while analysts said it had exceeded expectations on a storm-depressed weekend, three new releases produced far more modest returns.


Universal's family-oriented 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish', a computer-animated spin-off of the "Shrek" franchise, took in $17.5 million for the Friday-through-Monday period.

Sony's biopic 'Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody' earned just $6.8 million. English actress Naomi Ackie portrays the late superstar.

And comedy-drama 'Babylon', helmed by Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle, opened with a mere $5.3 million despite a cast including Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Variety.com called that an "especially terrible start."

But David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research suggested that the over-the-top epic can expect a boost "if it picks up big awards nominations," as many expect.

Fifth place for the long, cold weekend went to 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', at $5.3 million. Its domestic total is now $428 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• 'Violent Night' ($4.3 million)
• 'The Whale' ($1.5 million)
• 'The Menu' ($1 million)
• 'The Fabelmans' ($900,000)
• 'Strange World' ($675,000)