By Ben Miller
Hollywood is becoming exceedingly lazy in getting out new films these days. Maybe it's the hangover from the pandemic, or maybe economics are finally starting to catch up with studios. Regardless, Avatar: The Way of Water stayed comfortably at the top box office spot for the sixth week. James Cameron's film is now the 13th-highest grossing domestic hit and the sixth film (and third Cameron film) to gross $2 billion worldwide. The only new release of note was Missing, the psuedo-sequel to 2019's Searching. Budgeted at a reasonable $7 million, it made back its money in one week. Good reviews (82% on Rotten Tomatoes) could help its legs in the coming weeks...
| Weekend Box Office (actuals) Jan 20th-22nd 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | LIMITED / PLATFORM |
 THE WAY OF WATER |
 THE SON |
| 1 ★ AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER $20 (cum. $598.2) 3790 screens |
1 🔺★ WOMEN TALKING $380k (cum. $1.1) 153 screens |
| 2 ★ PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH $11.5 (cum. $126.4) 3,611 screens |
2 🔺 THE SON $239k *NEW* 554 screens |
| 3 ★ M3GAN PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH $9.8 (cum. $73.2) 3,628 screens |
3 ★ BROKER $150k (cum. $845k) 206 screens |
|
4 🔺 MISSING $9.3 *NEW* 3025 screens |
4 🔺 WHEN YOU FINISH SAVING THE WORLD $140k *new* 403 screens |
|
5 A MAN CALLED OTTO $9 (cum. $35.3) |
5 🔺★ LIVING $130k (cum. $400k) 39 screens |
|
6 PLANE $5.2 (cum. $19.4) 3060 screens |
6 🔺 ALICE DARLING $101k 65 theaters |
 THE FABELMANS |
 EO |
|
7 HOUSE PARTY $1.7 (cum. $7.1) 1400 screens |
7 ★ TÁR $70k (cum. $5.9) on 106 screens |
|
8 🔺 THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A... $1.4 *NEW* 1473 screens |
8 🔺★ EO $55k (cum. $752k) on 80 screens |
|
9 THE WHALE $1.2 (cum. $13.1) 1591 screens |
9 ★ CORSAGE $36k (cum. $661k) 70 screens |
|
10 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $1.2 (cum. $451.7) 1591 screens |
10 TURN EVERY PAGE... $30k (cum. $112K) 15 screens |
|
11 I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY $500k (cum. $23) 1308 screens |
11 ★ SAINT OMER $27k (cum. $143k) 25 screens |
|
12 THE FABELMANS $430k (cum. $14.9) 947 screens |
12 NO BEARS $22k (cum. $83k) 6 screens |
|
13 🔺 SKINAMARINK $420k (cum. $1.4) 809 screens |
13 ★ THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN $19k (cum. $9.3) cum. $155 screens |
|
there are only 13 movies currently in wide release |
14 ★ ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED $17k (cum. $377k) 24 screens |
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, M3GAN, and A Man Called Otto all had a nice weekend, holding on to nice grosses multiple weeks in. Outside of Avatar, those three films are the only ones that have shown their ability to make solid money over mulitple weeks in 2023.
On the platform/limited side, The Son made less that $500 per screen. Director Florian Zeller's follow-up to his Oscar-winning The Father has been getting butchered by critics and audiences followed suit. Jessie Eisenberg's directorial debut When You Finish Saving the World did even worse, managing only $350 per screen.
Next weekend - Whether or not the Oscar nominations give a boost to any of the movies in release, expect Avatar to rule again. The only wide releases are another low-budget horror film called Fear and Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool.
What did you watch this weekend? I finally caught Eddie Redmayne's Oscar-buzzed performance in The Good Nurse (it's perfectly fine, as is he), a rewatch of Jumanji with my kids, and The Magnificent Ambersons: Orson Welles' 1942 follow-up to Citizen Kane.