Babylon Bombs, Puss Purrs, Avatar Awakens - Weeks 7 & 8

 With one week till our final results, I thought I’d save some drama and update you on what happened over the Holidaze Weekends. Then next week will be the final reveal with Knives Out’s Benoit Blanc deducing the Top Five in 30 seconds while the rest of us took weeks to solve the case. That’s why they pay him the big bucks… Even if I don’t think he’s ever been paid for either case that he’s worked on onscreen… Hmm, curious business plan. 

The new films opening over Christmas Weekend may have tried to blame the epic storms for their poor showings, yet epic disinterest seemed to be the predominant forecast. 

The fall of the real Babylon took a lot longer than it did for the film to collapse. Opening with just $3.6 million, this was one of the poorest wide-released performances in a long time. In fact, it’s the 6th worst opening ever. Gulp! Not what a studio who invested $80 million wants to hear. I know Hollywood loves making movies about Hollywood, but this is one that no one seemed to connect with (insert Brad Pitt’s tap dancing here).

Opening barely better was the Whitney Houston pic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. A $4.7 million debut would be mocked more if it wasn’t still a million more than how Babylon performed. Whitney may have been saving all her love for us, yet at this one moment in time, we have nothing, nothing, nothing for her. It’s not right, but it’s ok.

 

Meanwhile, it’s really bizarre how the most relevant thing Antonio Banderas has done in 20 years is voice Puss in Boots. I mean that’s almost the way Mike Meyers has wanted it since his Shrek movies, but Banderas keeps busy and still Puss is what people think about. Saying Zorro or Spy Kids feels like naming your favorite Gin Blossom CD. Regardless, Puss in Boots held up its own bootstraps to a $12.8 million opening. On a side note, it had the highest Rotten Tomatoes score of any of the wide releases over the holiday period. Good kitty!

That left all eyes on Avatar: The Way of Water. Could it outperform Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in its follow-up weeks or would it fade the way most films do? It’s its second weekend, Pandora held well with only a 50% drop and a $63.3 million gross. However, it was in its third weekend that flipped the script and changed the game.   

Avatar 2 gained 6.4% in week three and an even higher $67.4 million total over New Year’s weekend. This leaves the Island of the Blue People only $13 million behind Wakanda with two weeks left in the pool. Queen Shuri thought the blue folks from Namor’s tribe were the ones to watch out for, but it was the ones from space that were the real threat! 

We’ll have the Final Report and results ready for you next week. Here’s where we are for now…

The Top Five If Today Was MLK Day:

#1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - $438.3 million

#2. Avatar: The Way of Water - $425.5 million

#3. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish - $61.2 million

#4. Violent Night - $47.5 million

#5. Strange World - $36.9 million