‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ surges past global $2-billion mark

LOS ANGELES (AFP): “Avatar: The Way of Water” gave no sign of relinquishing its box office domination, taking in an estimated $19.7 million in its sixth weekend out in North America, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

The James Cameron sci-fi epic thus sailed past the $2 billion mark globally, best in the pandemic era, with accumulated ticket sales of $598 million domestically and $1.42 billion internationally.

That makes the Disney/20thCentury film only the sixth movie ever to surpass the $2 billion mark (not adjusted for inflation), though it still trails the all-time leader, the original “Avatar,” by $1.5 billion.

Showing considerable buoyance after five weeks out, Universal’s family-friendly “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” rose one spot from last weekend to place second, at $11.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.

Down one spot was scary-doll thriller “M3GAN” from Universal and Blumhouse Productions, at $9.8 million. The film’s title doll, created as a companion to a young orphan, gradually takes on a creepy life of her own.

In fourth spot was Sony’s new release “Missing,” at $9.3 million. Storm Reid stars as a teenager desperate to find her mother (Nia Long) after she disappears during a vacation in Colombia.

David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called that opening “impressive” for a crime thriller, adding, “The reviews are excellent.”

And in fifth, down one spot from last weekend, was Sony’s feel-good “A Man Called Otto,” at $9 million. Tom Hanks plays the title curmudgeon, a character based on popular Swedish novel “A Man Called Ove.”

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Plane” ($5.3 million)

“House Party” ($1.8 million)

“That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime” ($1.5 million)

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” ($1.4 million)

“The Whale” ($1.3 million)