USA movie box office for the third weekend in December 2022: 'Avatar' hoovers 88% of box office

Such an anemic performance by other new releases has to be a huge concern for the movie industry.

Weekend box office is down 46% compared to last year.

Source:  Box Office Mojo

Variety, 12/18/2022

At the domestic box office, “Avatar 2” tied with “The Batman” to land the fifth-biggest opening of the year. The follow-up film landed behind expectations, which pegged initial numbers closer to $150 million to $175 million. Yet Cameron’s films, which have raked in billions at the box office, often start slower and build over time. Disney, which holds the rights to “Avatar” after acquiring 20th Century Fox in 2019, hopes that’s the case again; “The Way of Water” cost at least $350 million to produce and many millions more to market. Cameron says the film needs to become one of the top-grossing releases in history to break even and justify its massive price tag.

12/18/2022 update starts here

Saturday's box office is down 44% compared to last year.

Source:  Box Office Mojo

Collider, 12/18/2022

Original 12/17/2022 post starts here.

Friday's box office is down 55% compared to last year.

 

Source:  Box Office Mojo

The Wrap, 12/17/2022 (orange box added)

The bad news is that this result makes it unlikely that James Cameron’s blockbuster sequel will meet pre-weekend projections for a $150 million-plus opening weekend, instead settling for a now-estimated $130-135 million launch. 

Similar drops are being felt in overseas markets, with China in particular failing to overcome the strong surge in COVID-19 infections that came with the country’s strict health restrictions being lifted. As reported yesterday, the film posted a lower-than-expected $24 million on opening day there; and with a running total of $180 million grossed worldwide through Friday, projections for the global opening weekend are sliding to around $300 million. Earlier this week, global opening projections consolidated in the $400 million range with a peak of $525 million.

Related posts:

U.S. movie box office for the second weekend in December 2022.  (12/12/2022)
U.S. movie box office for first weekend in December, 2017 to 2022.  (12/5/2022)

Thanksgiving 2022 daily top 10 movie grosses (Wednesday-Sunday)  (11/28/2022)

Thanksgiving weekend daily movie grosses.  (11/28/2022)

Pre-Thanksgiving box office weekend down 47% from 2017 peak.  (11/21/2022)
Going down: October 2022 box office drops 44% compared to 2018. (11/3/2022)
Weekend box office reports for October 2020.  (series)