Disney/20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” is on the cusp of becoming the sixth film — and third from James Cameron — to gross over $2 billion worldwide as it is estimated to add $20 million from North America in its sixth weekend.
We will know whether the long-awaited sequel has crossed that rare milestone on Sunday after Disney reports overseas grosses. Based on the current domestic grosses, “Avatar 2” will need to add approximately $28 million internationally to hit the mark, something that should be possible given the film’s strong legs in countries around the world.
That long-lasting global appeal is what has allowed “Avatar 2” to reach this point despite moviegoing in China being severely curtailed by COVID-19 outbreaks. France and Germany in particular have been very strong markets for the film, each with grosses of over $100 million. At this pace, it will also soon pass the $2.04 billion total of “Avengers: Infinity War” to become one of the top 5 highest grossing films of all time before inflation adjustment.
Meanwhile, Universal/DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” is continuing to endure at the box office, dropping just 14% from last weekend with $12.4 million grossed in its fifth weekend and a domestic total of $127 million. It is DreamWorks Animation’s highest grossing film since “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” grossed $160 million domestic in February 2019, and is enduring in this post-holiday period thanks to its status as the only animated family film in theaters and its strong word-of-mouth with general audiences.
The sole newcomer of the weekend is Sony/Screen Gems’ “Missing,” a standalone sequel to the 2018 thriller “Searching” that is filmed entirely on computer and smartphone screens. The film is currently estimated to take fifth place on the charts with an $8.5 million opening from 3,802 theaters. Reception for the film has been generally positive with a B CinemaScore grade going with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 82% critics and 90% audience.
“Missing” is currently just behind Universal/Blumhouse’s “M3GAN” and fellow Sony release “A Man Called Otto,” both of which are also holding well with approximately $9 million each this weekend. “M3GAN,” which got a sequel greenlit for 2025, now has a total of $72.6 million after three weekends. “A Man Called Otto,” which is in its second wide weekend, dropped just 28% and is estimated for a $35 million total.