| Rank | Film (distributor) | Three-day gross (Dec 30-Jan 1) | Total gross to date | Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Avatar: The Way Of Water (Disney) | £7.6m | £47.7m | 3 |
| 2. | Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical (Sony) | £2m | £21.5m | 6 |
| 3. | Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Sony) | £1.4m | £3.8m | 1 |
| 4. | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Disney) | £436,000 | £33.4m | 8 |
| 5. | Strange World (Disney) | £280,000 | £3.2m | 6 |
GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.14
James Cameron’s blockbuster sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water topped the UK-Ireland box office chart for a third consecutive weekend from December 30-January 1, rising to a £47.7m total as of January 2.
The fantasy adventure added £7.6m over the weekend for Disney – down only 32.1% from its opening session two weeks ago. It will pass the £50m mark before next weekend, and will look to climb the list of highest-grossing films of all time, having already entered into the top 60.
It is tracking slightly down on 2022’s highest-grossing title Top Gun: Maverick, which had £50.1m after 17 days in cinemas (The Way Of Water’s £47.7m comes after 18). Maverick reached an £83.4m total, which would be an excellent final cume for The Way Of Water. Released at Christmas 2009, the first Avatar film had a long tail, ending on £94m.
Yesterday the UK Cinema Association shared that over 60% of The Way Of Water’s box office to date has come from 3D screenings; the technology was a major driver behind the success of the first film.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical continues to be the major challenger to The Way Of Water, adding £2m on its sixth weekend in cinemas – up £53.8% from the £1.3m of its last pre-Christmas weekend. The film is now up to a strong £21.5m, including £710,000 from Monday, of which £110,000 came from the ‘singalong’ screenings.
Sony’s Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody started with £3.3m including previews, with a £1.36m weekend from Friday 30 to Sunday 1. It is up to £3.8m including the Bank Holiday Monday.
Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever held fourth spot on its eighth weekend in cinemas, adding £436,000 – up 15.5% on the pre-Christmas weekend. It is now up to £33.4m; it will finish down on the £50.8m of the first film, but still represents a decent result as the 14th -highest-grossing of 30 Marvel Cinematic Universe films to date.
Strange World added £280,000 for Disney – up 44.6% from pre-Christmas - and is up to £3.2m from six sessions.
Top five takings were down just 13% from two weeks ago to £11.7m – a decent hold across The Way Of Water’s ongoing run, and still 194.3% up on the last pre-Avatar weekend.
Aftersun tops £1m
Disney’s The Menu added £104,000, up 23.4% from pre-Christmas, and has served up a healthy £3.65m cume.
Universal’s Christmas horror Violent Night dropped 59% on its previous weekend with £101,114 taking it to £3.7m from five sessions – a decent performance that should now tail off with the close of the holiday season.
Festival favourite Corsage is tracking alongside Picturehouse Entertainment’s highest-grossing films. It brought in £87,357 from 134 cinemas across its first weekend, at a £652 average, having previously grossed £89,911 between December 26-29. Bank Holiday Monday was its strongest day yet, with £35,500, which all adds up to a £238,674 total.
Playing in 77 venues on New Year’s Eve, Trafalgar Releasing’s Berliner Philharmoniker Live: New Year’s Eve Concert 2022 brought in £54,784.
Mubi awards contender Aftersun has topped the £1m mark, with a £43,992 weekend taking it beyond £1.1m – an excellent result for the independent title.
Another awards challenger, Disney’s Searchlight Pictures title The Banshees Of Inisherin, added £42,000 on its 11th session to reach £9.1m. A long tail wagging with awards victories could see the film cross the £10m mark, which would represent an excellent result for Martin McDonagh’s fourth directorial feature.
Universal’s Minions: The Rise Of Gru is still in cinemas after more than half a year. It added £34,179 on its 27th weekend to reach a £46.9m total – less than £1m away from the £47.8m of the 2015 first film.
Triangle Of Sadness continues to play through a 10th weekend, adding £19,577 to reach almost £1.6m for Lionsgate – more than double the £722,690 of director Ruben Ostlund’s previous Palme d’Or winner The Square from 2018.
#MeToo drama She Said added £13,473 for Universal on its sixth session, and is up to £1.3m.
Curzon started Berlinale 2022 opener Peter Von Kant with £5,508 from 30 locations at the weekend; with Bank Holiday and preview figures added, it is up to £14,806.
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