Avatar: The Way of Water sailed to the top of the box office in its second weekend, bringing in a strong $58 million in North America that suggests it may stay afloat into the new year and approach the high expectations that met its release. James Cameron's digital extravaganza for 20th Century Studios has made $253.7 million domestically in its first 10 days of release, compared to $212.7 million in the same stretch for 2009's first Avatar, which would go on to become the highest-grossing film of all time. Globally, The Way of Water is already the third highest-grossing film released in 2022, the AP reports, bringing in $855 million—putting it behind only Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion—and is a lock to surpass $1 billion.
The weekend's biggest disappointment was Babylon, the epic of early Hollywood from La La Land director Damian Chazelle starring Brad Pitt and and Margo Robbie. In a nationwide release it brought in just $3.5 million, finishing fourth. The tepid, $6.5 million opening weekend in October of director David O. Russell's Amsterdam, another film, set in a similar period, that combined prestige, scope, star power, and a celebrated auteur, brought industry worries that audiences just weren't flocking to theaters for such films. The concerns proved justified, as Babylon barely made more than half of the opening of Amsterdam.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- Avatar: The Way of Water, $134 million.
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, $5.4 million.
- Violent Night, $5 million.
- Strange World, $2.2 million.
- The Menu, $1.7 million.
- Devotion, $825,000.
- The Fabelmans, $750,000.
- Black Adam, $500,000.
- I Heard the Bells, $308,893.
- Empire of Light, $235,000.
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