Box Office Results: MLK Jr. Day Weekend Brings in Big Business

Moviegoers flocked out in droves to see Hollywood’s latest and greatest over the Martin Luther King weekend. Five films — yes, five! — amassed double-digit grosses this week, namely 20th Century Studios/Lightstorm’s Avatar: The Way of Water (3-day $32.4M, $40M 4-day), Universal/Atomic Monster/Blumhouse’s M3GAN ($18.2M/$21.7M), Universal’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish ($14.4M/$19M), Sony’s A Man Called Otto ($12.8M/$15.3M), and Lionsgate’s Plane ($10.2M/$12M), per Deadline.

Avatar came in higher than expected with an $11.6 million Sunday and raised its domestic cume to $572.4 million. Internationally, the sequel collected $88.6 million to bring its worldwide total to $1.901 billion, enough to raise it to No. 7 on the all-time Global Earners list behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.916B), Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048B), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.069B). How far will Avatar swim? The pic is days away from becoming the first film since 2019 to cross the $2 billion threshold; whether it can leap into the top 10 global earners remains to be seen. 

The only dud in the market was New Line’s House Party remake, which managed a paltry $4.7 million over the 4-day frame.

Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10

1. Avatar: The Way of Water (Dis) 4,045 (-295) theaters Fri $7M (-39%) Sat $13.8M Sun $10.3M Mon $7.3M 3-day $31.1M (-32%), 4-day $38.5M Total $570.3M/Wk 5
2. M3GAN (Uni) 3,605 (+96) theaters Fri $4.85M (-59%), Sat $7.4M Sun $5.6M Mon $3.3M 3-day $17.9M (-41%) 4-day $21.2M Total $59.7M /Wk 2
3. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Uni) 3,687 (-232) theaters Fri $3M (-10%) Sat $5.9M Sun $4.3M Mon $3.9M 3-day $13.4M (-1%)/4-day $17.3M/Total $110.2M/Wk 4
4. A Man Called Otto (Sony) 3,802 (+3165) theaters, Fri $4M (+162%), Sat $5.1M Sun $3.4M Mon $2.3M 3-day $12.65M (+201%) , 4-day $15M/Total $21.2M/Wk 3
5. Plane (LG) 3,023 theaters, Fri $3.54M, Sat $3.8M Sun $2.6M Mon $1.5M3-day $10M, 4-day $11.6M/Wk 1
6. House Party (NL) 1,350 theaters, Fri $1.4M, Sat $1.4M, Sun $1M Mon $615K 3-day $3.6M 4-day $4.5M/Wk 1
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Dis) 1,910 (-345) theaters Fri $524K (-46%) Sat $1M Sun $650K Mon $416K 3-day $2.1M (-43%), 4-day $2.6M Total $449.5M/ Wk 10
8. The Whale (A24) 1,500 (+665) theaters Fri $418,5K (-1%), Sat $589,5K Sun $442K Mon $353,7K 3 day $1.4M (-7%), 4-day $1.8M Total $11.1M/Wk 6
9. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) 2,205 (-979 theaters) Fri $300K (-57%) Sat $500K Sun $375K Mon $250K 3-day $1.1M (-54%) , 4-day $1.4M, Total $22.1M/ Wk 4
10. Waltair Veeraya (Ind) 350 theaters, Fri $320K, Sat $400K Sun $280KMon $84K 3-day $1M, 4-day $1.08M/Wk 1