'Avatar: Way of Water,' 'M3GAN,' and MLK Vacation Means $100 Million Box Office Weekend

With about $100 million for Martin Luther King's three-day box office weekend, "Avatar: The Way of the Water" (Disney) and "M3GAN" (Universal) accounted for about half of this total. It's not great compared to other pre-Covid MLK weekends – 2018-2020 grossed between $130-197 million, with lower ticket prices – but with three other titles grossing over $10 million , that was proof of good news for theaters.

One of the reasons this weekend fell short was the lack of strong Christmas spinoffs and rewards-related expansions, suggesting a lack of available movies rather than a lack of interest. This weekend provided five movies grossing over $10 million; last year it only happened once, the weekend of July 4th.

Holidays boosted Sunday totals and reduced efficiency dips, but James Cameron's 32% drop in success remains impressive. The same weekend for the first "Avatar" was down 15%, "Titanic" up 5%. “Way of Water” plays like a superior blockbuster rather than a phenomenon. Its worldwide total is now just under $1.9 billion.

“M3GAN” dropped 41%, a great catch for a horror title. “Black Phone” dropped 48% in its second weekend and that came with a boost on July 4th. This Blumhouse production is on track to reach US$100 million.

The following three titles all released ahead of industry consensus, but in line with our pre-weekend forecast. Watch "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" (Universal): He's down just one percent for No. 3 in his second week of PVOD home play. It is $106 million.

"A Man Called Otto"

©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

“A Man Called Otto” (Sony) at No. 4, $12.6 million, did much better than expected. This film seemed left for dead after debuting on a weak platform (hurt by lackluster reviews and lack of attention to awards), but here it is and plays particularly well in heartthrob situations. It appears to have benefited from initial mouthwatering in 637 theaters last week: 'Otto' has already grossed more than any of the fall award contenders aimed at older audiences.

"Plane", a Lionsgate acquisition, brought in $10 million. It's OK, not great, but it's exactly the kind of titles theaters need to back up the bigs. The Gerald Butler star actor showed a positive first...