Weekend Box Office: The Oscar Bump
Monday, January 30, 2023 at 9:07PM By Ben Miller
Yes, Avatar: The Way of Water won the box office battle for the seventh straight week. Yes, it's now one of four highest-grossing films in history (the third James Cameron-directed film to achieve that). Yes, it will end up being one of the biggest domestic hits in history. But, I'm much more interested in the rest of the box office. Following Tuesday's Oscar nods, several of the big contenders received a much needed expansion and a little financial boost...
| Weekend Box Office (actuals) Jan 27th-29th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | LIMITED / PLATFORM |
 THE WAY OF WATER |
 PATHAAN |
| 1 ★ AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER $15.9 (cum. $620.8) 3,600 screens |
1 🔺 PATHAAN $6.8 *NEW* 695 screens |
| 2 ★ PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH $10.4 (cum. $140.7) 3,452 screens |
2 THE WANDERING EARTH II $1.4 (cum. $3.0) 142 screens |
| 3 A MAN CALLED OTTO $6.6 (cum. $45.9) |
3 🔺 ★ WOMEN TALKING $970k (cum. $2.3) 707 screens |
|
4 M3GAN $6.2 (cum. $82.1) 3416 screens |
4 🔺 MAYBE I DO $562k *NEW* 465 screens |
|
5 MISSING $5.6 (cum. $17.5) 3025 screens |
5 🔺★ LIVING $528k (cum. $981k) 644 screens |
|
6 PLANE $3.8 (cum. $25.3) 2852 screens |
6 🔺★ TÁR $175k (cum. $6.1) 537 theaters |
 INFINITY POOL |
 CLOSE |
|
7 🔺 INFINITY POOL $2.5 *NEW* 1835 screens |
7 SKINAMARINK $133k (cum. $1.8) 286 screens |
|
8 🔺 FEAR $1.2 *NEW* 974 screens |
8 ★ BROKER $70k (cum. $1.0) 75 screens |
|
9 🔺★ EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE $1.0 (cum. $71) 1400 screens |
9 🔺★ CLOSE $68k *NEW* 4 screens |
|
10 THE WHALE $1.0 (cum. $14.9) 1721 screens |
10 ★ TRIANGLE OF SADNESS $48k (cum. $4.2) 170 screens |
|
11 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $757k (cum. $453) 1030 screens |
11 ★ EO $45k (cum. $829k) 64 screens |
|
12 🔺★ THE FABELMANS $738k (cum. $16) 1962 screens |
12 TURN EVERY PAGE... $29k (cum. $155k) 20 screens |
|
13 HOUSE PARTY $734k (cum. $8.3) 1047 screens |
13 THE SON $27k (cum. $429k) 172 screens |
|
14 🔺★ THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN $352k (cum. $9.8) 1205 screens |
14 ★ SAINT OMER $17k (cum. $181k) 12 screens |
|
15 I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY $225k (cum. $23.5) 1205 screens |
15 ★ ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED $16k (cum. $404k) 26 screens |
|
there are 15 movies currently in wide release |
16 🔺★ ONE FINE MORNING $13k *NEW* 3 screens |
Best Picture nominees Women Talking, The Fabelmans, The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and TAR re-released in more theaters than last week and increased in money. Even non-BP nominees like Living and The Whale received a nice boost from their acting nominations. Obviously, Avatar's nominatons didn't hurt its box office haul.
I talked about it a little last week, but Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, A Man Called Otto, and M3GAN continue to make solid money behind the Avatar behemoth. Puss in Boots is already over $325 million worldwide, while M3GAN might reach close to $200 million.
On the platform/limited side, Indian action continues to make box office waves in the US as Pathaan made almost $6 million in less than 700 theaters. Brandan Cronenberg's R-rated version of Infinity Pool actually opened in almost 2,000 theaters and made decent money for as odd as it is. Best International Film contender Close from Belgium made over $17,000 per screen on just four screens. EO from Poland is also still out and nearing $1 million making it one of the top 20 subtitled hits of the past year.
Next Weekend - Avatar might finally get dethroned with the award-winning ladies of 80 for Brady as well as the return of M. Night Shyamalan with Knock at the Cabin.
What did you watch this weekend? I caught a rewatch of Women Talking (which was even better the second time), International Film Oscar nominee EO, and a first-time watch of the Tony Curtis-Sidney Poitier film The Defiant Ones.
Avatar The Way of Water, Pathaan, box office
Reader Comments (17)
Okay, I love film and I love this site, but I DARE anyone to give me something better to watch than Episode 3 of THE LAST OF US (HBO), which has now rocketed to the top of my personal list of the all-time best hours of television.
I watched To Leslie. My takeaway from it is that a lot of A-list actors don't watch many movies. Riseborough is good, but her performance is really nothing out of the ordinary for a leading actress performance in a low-budget American independent film, certainly not as special as many of them make it out to be (e.g., have these advocates for Riseborough watched any of Elisabeth Moss's leading film performances over the past 5-10 years? They all impressed me more than this). And the film itself is lacking.
I also have been making my way through Mike Leigh's BBC films on Criterion Channel and really loved Abigail's Party and The Kiss of Death in particular.
I watched:
To Leslie: Kinda mediocre indie film with an only okay performance by Andrea. She's been so much better in so many other movies. Still happy she got nominated and that people are watching an indie film.
Black Panther 2: Boring, overblown and pointless, like all other Marvel films. Angela Bassett is going to win for THIS? She's not good in the film. She has far more presence during her Globes speech. I thought pretty much all of the other actresses in the movie were better than her. Not to mention the other actresses in the supporting category. If they want a body of work/overdue actress, Jamie Lee is right there. She's far superior than Angela.
I saw a few.
Living, which is they type of British SPC/Focus Feature film that I usually adore. I thought this one was fine, but wasn't as moving as it could have been. I would have preferred if SPOILER the last act had been told more from Nighy's perspective. I felt like the film lost momentum right as it was getting interesting, and though it got it back, it didn't fully work.
To, Leslie. I have to imagine this film made more money on Tuesday from curious Oscar lovers than it did its entire theatrical and VOD time. I thought it was fine, but felt like something from 2005. Risebourough is good and affecting, and I was impressed by how un-manored she was. But, I could see a ton of actresses in her range, or A-listers, take on this role to the same effect. It wasn't particularly nomination worthy to me, but it's not a bad nomination. Allison Janney, however, walks away with the film - her seething rage, even when she's in the background, is great even if we've seen her do it before. Would have been fine with a nomination from her.
I rewatched EEAAO, though not in theaters. It's still a moving film and Yeoh is still really grounding. After seeing TAR I was convince there was no way Blanchett could be denied, but this is a real race. Yeoh, truly, is incredible and brings so much humor and pathos to her role. There's also a sort of vain free deglam factor that works really well too.
I'm curious to see what happens with Black Panther once it opens in China next week. Can Disney get it any closer to a billion dollars?
I watched To Leslie, and I guess I'm its biggest fan yet in this thread, or at least the biggest fan of Riseborough in it. I thought she was great in it, and can completely see why actors would get excited about that performance. Is it my favorite thing she's ever done? No. But for me that doesn't detract from her accomplishment here. And the film was perfectly fine. Nothing earth-shattering, but enjoyable, and the kind of thing I could recommend to a variety of people, which likely relates to the appeal of her performance.
Riseborough's performance was Oscar-worthy, but not earth-shattering or ground-breaking. I'm not sure why there seems to be so much controversy over her nomination that the Academy is supposedly investigating it. There have been much worse performances nominated from equally small films.
Janney was fine in it, I don't really think anything special and if anything a little too much of an evil caricature at the beginning.
Saw The Whale in theaters. I didn't love it. I didn't realize it was based on a play, but makes total sense. It felt claustrophobic and dragged for me. The acting was very good, especially Brendan and the supporting women (Hong, Sadie and particularly Samantha - where was her Oscar buzz?). At the end I was just kind of like, huh... ok. Didn't add up to much or make much of a statement. Definitely understand the negativity around it and how it handles obesity too.
Just watched Pearl last night. Wow - awesome movie and central performance. Mia Goth is seriously impressive and damn scary! The monologue at the kitchen table was something else. Really got chills. Excited for the next installment in the series.
Riseborough is fine in TO LESLIE, but, the movie really is a typical Alcoholic trying to get their life together weepie. And, to me, the ending wasn't really earned. Just got there too easily.
CLOSE is very good. Subtle and poignant
I saw more horror than anything
I kicked off with To Leslie - I felt like i'd already seen this kind of movie in the late 90's,Riseborough is good ina showy part and a worthy nominee.
Megan predictable but lots of fun with a telling message about AI.
Spasms Oliver Reed 80's killer serpent movie,totally trashy
Phantom Thread fifth time seeing this,all 3 actors are at their very best and this would have been my Best Picture winner with Day Lewis and Manville as winners also.
Night Screams comits the slasher sin of being very boring.
Stock Aitken Waterman Documentary,the guys who gave us Kylie Pop Icon.
I haven't seen To Leslie and likely never will - many say it isn't earth shattering, and that was obvious by the trailer and life's too short...
ANYWAY, I honestly have no issue with her nomination. It was a different kind of campaign, but it was a campaign nonetheless. And it paid off, people voted for her. Whatever, who cares. It's more fun than anything.
However, what rubbed me the wrong way was when I saw Kate Winslet had said it was the greatest female performance put on film... Girl. How much did you get paid to say that? You know that's a bald headed lie.
It would be cool if this type of campaign had been utilized for an actual earth-shattering, groundbreaking role / film that went under the radar, and I think if that were the case, people wouldn't have as much of an issue with it.
This'll definitely be a conversation piece forever in the Oscar world, though!
TAR -- holds up on a second viewing. The New Yorker interview and Julliard scenes are both standouts of the year.
Great Freedom -- finally catching up with this before my 2022 window closes. Deserved the int'l feature nod it was shortlisted for. Realizing that gay prison dramas are definitely my genre.
Catherine Called Birdy -- such a delightful watch. Should have been a hit in theaters.
Funny Pages -- so quirkly, American Splendor vibes
Bruiser -- engaging family drama that whiffs in the end
Emergency -- a great concept whose execution was too standard
To Leslie -- Andrea Riseborough doing her best Susan Hayward. A good performance, but I don't see what all the fuss was about.
The Whale - the only aspect of the film that I liked was Hong Chau.
Riseborough is INCREDIBLE in To Leslie. The movie's fine but she's great.
I understand why people enjoyed Andrea in To Leslie but if you are looking for a performance you probably haven't seen before as someone else has mentioned try Mia Goth in Pearl.
Totally in service to the tone of the movie and her role within it,it's a weird hybrid of a movie with lots of Wizard of Oz references and the performance Goth gives is like nothing I saw last year or for many years previously,she is just as mesmerising as Blanchett is in her high wire act in Tar,though she is our frontrunner i'd replace her with Goth in a second.
The 2 best monolgues I saw last year came from horror/genre pieces Rebecca Hall in Resurrection and Mia Goth in Pearl,both we're given by fearless actors who haven't really got their due yet.
In Horror at the moment there's some really good stuff and the performances to match.
Like many others here, I saw To Leslie this weekend.
It was a lovely, modest little film. Sure, it's a story that's been told many times before, but I thought it was very well done.
Does Riseborough deliver the "greatest female performance put on film?" No. But she is exceptional in this, and it's a very lived-in feeling performance. I'm very glad she was nominated, she was completely deserving.
I was also pleasantly surprised by Marc Maron in this--it was a very different kind of role for him, and I thought he was effective.
A couple of re-watches of The Day the Series Stopped and Waking Sleeping Beauty on Disney+ and a theatrical viewing of Everything Everywhere All at Once with my mother. I thought it was great but she thought it was OK as it's not her thing.
Re-watched EEAAO this time with director's commentary. The Daniels are so open, funny, weird and insightful. I'm rooting for them to win something at the Oscars. And GOD the trio of Yeoh/Quan/Hsu continue to amaze me. They all still made me laugh and cry at the same spots.
I also went to the theaters to see MISSING, the pseudo-sequel to SEARCHING. I really loved the latter so I was apprehensive, but I think they pulled it off. It helped that they seemed to have tailored it for people who saw the first film, tricking our expectations and whatnot. Storm Reid is a fine actress.
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