“Avatar: The Way of Water” is the highest- grossing film in North America for the fourth consecutive week, taking in another $45 million this weekend, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
Director James Cameron’s follow-up to his 2009 special effects blockbuster has grossed $516.8 million domestically and another $1.19 billion internationally, Comscore reported. Domestically, it’s the second-highest grossing movie released in 2022 behind “Maverick: Top Gun” at $718.7 million, while its cumulative global total of $1.708 billion makes it the highest- grossing release of 2022.
“Avatar” beat out a strong challenge from “M3GAN,” a horror comedy that opened with $30.2 million.
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” was third with $13.1 million Friday through Sunday in its third week of release.
“A Man Called Otto,” starring Tom Hanks, was fourth with $4.2 million in its second week in theaters in the United States and Canada, followed by “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which grossed $3.4 million in its ninth week.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases, as estimated by Comscore, were “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” ($2.4 million), “The Whale” ($1.5 million), “Babylon” ($1.4 million), “Violent Night” ($740,000) and “The Menu” ($713,000).
This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $104.7 million. The year-to-date total is $215.1 million — an increase of 39% over the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.
