Quantumania, Champions, Inside and More in This Week's MPAA Ratings Bulletin

By Chris Kavan - 01/25/23 at 12:40 PM CT

After a slow week, the MPAA Ratings Board is back on track giving us the next big MCU film, an uplifting sports dramedy and the story of one unlucky art thief. Meanwhile, the box office was once again dominated by The Way of Water while newcomer Missing managed to find a place in the top five, even if the overall box office showed signs of slowing.

Avatar: The Way of Water has been on top for the six weeks in a row now. The only other two films to accomplish that feat? Titanic and the original Avatar - it seems James Cameron has the golden tough, even it it takes several years between projects. With a $20.13 million weekend, Way of Water hit $598.4 million domestic and, by this time, has likely crossed the $600 million mark overall. It dipped 38.7%, perhaps a bit more than expected, but look to still be on track to hit about $750 million domestic overall. The bigger news is that The Way of Water hit the $2 billion mark worldwide - just the sixth film all time to hit that mark and joining an exclusive club that consists of Avatar, Avengers End Game and Infinity War, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Titanic. If predictions remain true and Way of Water winds up with $2.5 billion total, it will sit at third all time behind just Endgame ($2.79 billion) and the original Avatar ($2.92 billion). Way of Water has set several highest-grossing records on the international front: Austria, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lebanon, Romania, Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and Colombia and has earned over $100 million in China, France and Germany.

In the second-place spot, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish continues to show tremendous staying power after a rather ho-hum start. With $11.8 million (down just 18.4%) the animated sequel has hit $126.7 million - crossing that $125 million milestone in the process. With $171 million overseas, it sits just under $300 million worldwide. It's no joke to say that family films have struggled in the post-pandemic, but Last Wish proves if you provide something audiences like, they will go to theaters. Last Wish has been readily available On Demand for weeks and it still draws out people.

Third place belonged to creepy robot horror film M3GAN, which took a pretty big 47% hit but still managed a $9.7 million weekend for a new $73.19 million total. With $51.5 million international, the film stands at over $125 million worldwide. Oh, and to little surprise a sequel (M3GAN 2.0) has already been greenlit. We'll see if can hit that $100 million or if the upcoming Knock at the Cabin steals away enough thunder to stop it short. In any case, it's going to make plenty of bank.

In fourth place newcomer Missing, the sequel to Searching, debuted with a $9.15 million. Much like that film, Missing follows a young woman looking into the disappearnce - possible kidnapping - of her mother while on an overseas vacation and takes place entirely through screens - computer, phone, etc. taking advantage of modern technology. Considering the modest $7 million budget, Missing doesn't have to put up Avatar-like numbers to make money and it looks like its well on its way to profitability. Searching grossed $25 million domestic, hopefully Missing can do just as well if not better.

Rounding out the top five we find Tom Hanks and A Man Called Otto. Taking a 31.4%, the film brought in $8.8 million for a new $35.14 million total. It seems to be getting by on some good word-of-mouth and if adults continue to support it, $50 million doesn't see like it's out of the question. With $20 million overseas, it has earned $56 million worldwide so far.

Outside the top five: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever crossed the $450 million mark with a $1.36 million weekend and a new $451.8 million total - 7th all time domestic for MCU films (and very close to topping the $459 million of Age of Ultron) - though it sits just 15th overall worldwide.

Semi-Wide anime That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond (now that's a mouthful!) opened to $1.58 million (8th place) in 1,473 theaters for an unspectacular $1,078 per-theater average.

Next week horror film Fear and the bat-spit crazy Infinity Pool open - we'll see if M3GAN can hold them off but Way of Water should have no problem holding on to the top spot yet again.

MPAA Official Logo

After a slow week last time around, the MPAA Ratings Board provides a much better bulletin giving us Ant-Man (and family), Willem Dafoe doing what he does best and Woody Harrelson in what looks to be the year's most inspirational sports film.

Though the haters would like you to believe that the MCU has all but died following Endgame and that "woke" decisions (diversity is not a crime) is destroying their beloved franchise, I would say the box office tells a different story. All that aside, perhaps Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania can finally deliver a win for everyone. Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is finally enjoying his freedom - and his status as a hero, with Hope Van Dyne aka Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) and his daughter Cassie (Kathryn Newton) along with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer). But when Cassie sets up a beacon into the vast Quantum Realm, it attracts the attention of Kang The Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) and the group must navigate this dangerous realm even as Kang promises to give Scott that one thing he can't give himself: Time. But Kang is not a benevolent entity and instead has dangerous designs for our reality - one that looks to set the next phase of the MCU into motion. Say what you will about the how haphazardly Phase 4 has seem to be - Quantumania will hopefully lay the groundwork for the next major showdown and provide some stability to things. Will people, including the fans who have called the last few films lackluster show up? Given how successful the crop of 2022 films were despite the loud voices, I don't think there's going to be any trouble with this making hundreds of millions across the board. Rated PG-13 for violence/action, and language.

The career of actor Willem Dafoe reads like no other - from Platoon to Spider-Man to The Lighthouse and everything in between - Dafoe is as versatile and interesting as you can find. He also is never afraid to take on something different, which is why the upcoming Inside looks like it will be amazing. Though he is technically not the only actor in the film, Inside is very much a showcase for Dafoe. He plays Nemo, a high-end art thief who is on a job in a New York penthouse when things go south. He finds himself trapped inside - all windows and doors sealed with the temperature rising. Thus begins his quest to survive and escape. Based on the trailer, Dafoe is perfect for the role. The right mix of cunning and just a bit crazed - as he attempts to communicate with anyone outside, do anything to survive and go just a tad bit mad in the process. Looks fantastic and I think if anyone can pull it off, Dafoe is the man for the job. Rated for language, some sexual content and nude images.

While inspirational sports films are nothing new, Champions looks to take a winning formula and turn it up to 11. It could work - as long as it doesn't fall into too saccharine category. Woody Harrelson plays Marcus, a hot-headed minor-league basketball coach who not only gets fired, but gets into an accident. Assigned community service, he finds himself coaching a different kind of team made up of players with intellectual disabilities. At first he doesn't think much of his assignment but as he comes to really know the team, he realizes their potential to reach the top - and maybe get his own life back on track along the way. Of course there is also a love story thrown in for good measure. Kudos for the film casting actors with disabilities to play the roles - including what looks like a firecracker performance from Madison Tevlin as the lone female on the team. Director Bobby Farrelly helmed a completely different film with Harrelson in Kingpin - but I'm hoping he gets the feel-good part right here without getting too sickly sweet in the process. Rated PG-13 for strong language and crude/sexual references.

A nice mix this week from the MPAA Ratings Bulletin - and you can check out the full list below:

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA

Rated PG-13 for violence/action, and language.


AT MIDNIGHT

Rated R for some language.


BOYS IN THE BOAT

Rated PG-13 for language and smoking.


CHAMPIONS

Rated PG-13 for strong language and crude/sexual references.


DOUBLE LIFE

Rated PG-13 for violence, language and some sexual content.


HIS ONLY SON

Rated PG-13 for thematic content and some violence.


INSIDE

Rated R for language, some sexual content and nude images.


LUTHER: THE FALLEN SUN

Rated R for disturbing/violent content, language and some sexual material.


MAFIA MAMMA

Rated R for bloody violence, sexual content and language.


MOJAVE DIAMONDS

Rated R for violence, pervasive language and some sexual content.


OCEAN DEEP

Rated R for some language and violence.


PALM TREES AND POWER LINES

Rated R for disturbing material, sexual violence, sexual content, drug/alcohol use and language - all involving teens


REGGIE

Rated PG-13 for strong language including racial slurs.


SERIOUSLY RED

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and some language.

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