By Chris Kavan - 01/04/23 at 10:07 PM CT
After a break the MPAA is back in business and the first update of the year at least gives me something to talk about. As for the box office, Avatar: The Way of Water continues to draw in big crowds as it moves up to second place for all of 2022 and has, by this point, crossed $1.5 billion worldwide. James Cameron said the film needed to hit $2 billion to break even and at this point it looks like we'll be getting plenty more Avatar films as people seem to be fully on board this return to Pandora.
While 2022 may not have been a banner year for the overall box office, it at least kicked off 2022 on a high note as the New Year's weekend box office was dominated, easily, by Avatar: The Way of Water to the tune of $67.4 million - a 6.4% increase over the long Christmas box office (which was hampered by a major storm) and leading to a $425.5 million total. While it still trailed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever over the weekend, it jumped past it when Monday came around adding another $21.4 million and up to nearly $447 million. It sits behind only Top Gun: Maverick ($718.7 million) for the all films released in 2022 and given it has nearly two months of little challenge, I see it giving that film a run for its money. It will pass it on the global scale in any case as it sits at $1.482 billion at this point and Maverick hit $1.488 billion total. Given it $153 million in China - and record-breaking post-Covid totals in many international markets, it's a hit no matter how you slice things.
Coming in hot in second place, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish enjoyed a 35.3% bump for a $16.8 million weekend and a new $61.22 million total. Adding in an additional $5.8 million on Monday and the animated sequel sits at just over $67 million. While it had a bit of a rough opening, the film has hit $135 million global and is tracking similar to Sing 2 in international markets. All in all, the $90 million film has shored up the family crowd and should cruise to a decent profit once all the numbers have been crunched.
Rebounding nicely was the eight-week running Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which jumped into third place for the weekend with $5.14 million - a hefty 47.4% increase - and giving it a new $438.2 million total. That was enough to hold off Avatar: The Way of Water for at least the weekend but its Monday total of $1.6 million meant its $440 million total dropped it to third for the 2022 season. Still, it's looking like the MCU film will hit $450 million domestic and at least $850 million international - neither are numbers to sneeze at, that's for sure.
In fourth place, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody took a 16.4% hit to wind up a $3.93 million weekend and with $1.12 million Monday just crossed the $15 million mark. Worldwide the film sits at nearly $30 million but the the $45 million budgeted film will be hard-pressed to make a profit.
Also landing in that same club was Babylon, which took an even bigger 27.5% hit after its terrible opening for a $2.61 million weekend and just $10.8 million total after Monday. Even if it manages to hit a home run overseas, this star-studded $80 million picture is looking like a major misfire.
Next week brings us creepy robot horror film M3GAN and high drama Women Talking - neither one of which should put much of dent into Avatar: The Way of Water.
After taking a much-needed break at the end of 2022, the MPAA Ratings Board returns and offers up a single serving of another live-action remake of a beloved animated classic.
Disney has been running hot and cold with its remakes - from Maleficent to Cruella to Pinocchio - and a bunch more you can list off - these films have meant, for the most part, pretty good business. Which brings us to The Little Mermaid. For those who remember, the animated version of The Little Mermaid was Disney's return to animation dominance in 1989, leading to the likes of Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King. Also, what do all these films also have in common? The have all enjoyed live-action remakes in the recent years. You would think The Little Mermaid would have come earlier, but here we are. If you have been following news on the film at all, you will also know that the casting of Halle Bailey has riled up the more loud, annoying people online because "GASP" she happens to be black! The trolls do be trollin' over that fact. I don't care, the short trailer makes it clear Bailey can sing and the story is classic - one of my favorite Disney films personally - and though remakes can go either way, I'm usually more impressed than disappointed by the outcome. You also have Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggsa as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Awkwafina as Scuttle, and (rumored) Lin-Manuel Miranda as the Chef. That's a solid lineup and I'm willing to see if this under (and out of) the sea adventure can match up. Rated PG for action/peril and some scary images.
That's the big film for the week but you can check out the full MPAA Ratings Bulletin below:
1992
Rated R for violence and pervasive language.
CASSANDRO
Rated R for language, drug use and sexual content.
CONSECRATION
Rated R for bloody violent content and some language.
JUSTICE LEAGUE X RWBY: SUPER HEROES AND HUNSTSMEN PART ONE
Rated PG for action/violence throughout and brief language.
THE LITTLE MERMAID
Rated PG for action/peril and some scary images.
MURDER MYSTERY 2
Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody images, strong language, suggestive material and smoking.
THE OATH
Rated PG-13 for violent content and some suggestive material.
QUEEN RISING
Rated R for some violence.
SAINT OMER
Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and brief strong language.
UNDERRATED
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
WILD LIFE
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
