Avatar sequel now ranks fourth all-time in global sales
Avatar: The Way Of Water continued to dominate the box-office charts, taking in an estimated US$15.7 million (515 million baht) this weekend in North American cinemas to make it the fourth-leading global grosser of all time.
The Disney/20th Century sci-fi film, directed by James Cameron, “has been #1 for 7 straight weeks... a feat that hasn’t been accomplished” since Cameron issued the original Avatar in 2009, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Twitter.
Hefty results from cinemas around the world — including $237 million in ticket sales in China — helped boost The Way Of Water to fourth place globally all-time at $2.117 billion, unadjusted for inflation.
That means Cameron now has his name on three of the four top grossers ever — the original Avatar, Titanic
and The Way Of Water (Avengers: Endgame from Disney and Marvel sneaks in at second).
In second place for the North American weekend was Universal’s family-friendly Puss In Boots: The Last Wish,
at $10.6 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. In third, up two spots from last weekend, was Sony’s feel-good Man Called Otto, at $6.8 million. Tom Hanks plays the title curmudgeon in the adaptation of Swedish novel A Man Called Ove.
Scary-doll thriller M3GAN from Universal and Blumhouse Productions took in $6.4 million to place fourth. It has an android doll, created as a companion to a young orphan, turning steadily creepier.
And Yash Raj Films’ new action thriller Pathaan placed fifth at $5.9 million, an impressive North American total for a Hindi-language film. It stars Shah Rukh Khan, known as the “King of Bollywood”, in a story about spies, rogue agents and a deadly lab-generated virus.