{"id":173718,"date":"2022-12-31T20:10:59","date_gmt":"2022-12-31T20:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/avatar-the-way-of-water-overtaking-black-panther-2-at-box-office\/"},"modified":"2022-12-31T20:10:59","modified_gmt":"2022-12-31T20:10:59","slug":"avatar-the-way-of-water-overtaking-black-panther-2-at-box-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/avatar-the-way-of-water-overtaking-black-panther-2-at-box-office\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Overtaking ‘Black Panther 2’ at Box Office"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\t\u201cAvatar: The Way of Water\u201d is closing out 2022 on a high note. <\/p>\n

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\tJames Cameron’s ambitious and mega-expensive return to Pandora dominated the Friday box office, earning $24.4 million to push its domestic total to $382.6 million. The film is on track to gross $66.8 million this weekend or $87.8 million over the four-day holiday (most businesses are giving Monday off because New Year’s falls on Sunday). <\/p>\n

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\tBy the time the long weekend is over, \u201cAvatar: The Way of Water\u201d may have sailed to more than $445 million, overtaking \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d as the second highest-grossing domestic release of 2022. Disney produced both movies \u2014 the company acquired the rights to \u201cAvatar\u201d as part of its purchase of much of 20th Century Fox’s entertainment assets in 2019. \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d is still the top domestic ticket seller with $718.7 million in revenues. Currently, \u201cAvatar: The Way of Water\u201d is the fourth highest-grossing domestic release of 2022, just behind \u201cDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness\u201d with its $411.3 million total. But it’s moving up the chart at a rapid clip. <\/p>\n

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\tWith \u201cAvatar: The Way of Water\u201d looming large, Universal’s \u201cPuss in Boots: The Last Wish\u201d is poised to capture runner-up status. The animated sequel earned $6.5 million on Friday and is expected to net $15.9 million over the weekend and $21.2 million over the four-day holiday. That means it will likely enter 2023 with $66.6 million in grosses. <\/p>\n

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\tDisney and Marvel’s \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever\u201d nabbed third place on Friday, earning $1.8 million to bring its domestic gross to $434.9 million. It will earn $5.2 million this weekend and more than $7 million over the long holiday. <\/p>\n

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\tSony’s \u201cWhitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody\u201d took fourth place with roughly $1.5 million on Friday. That brings the biopic’s domestic gross to just over $11 million. It should gross $5.2 million over the holiday, which would leave it with nearly $16 million. <\/p>\n

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\tParamount’s \u201cBabylon,\u201d a sprawling look at the dawn of Hollywood, continued to sputter. The drama grossed a paltry $935,000 on Friday. It should earn under $4 million over the holiday weekend, which would bring its domestic total to a disastrous $11 million and change. The movie, which features Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt as dysfunctional Silent era stars, cost $80 million to make and could lose more than that figure when marketing costs are taken into account. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n