Theater counts: Way of Water holds off a bevy of new releases to remain widest release

January 12, 2023

As the only movie playing in over 4,000 theaters this week, Avatar: The Way of Water continues to dominate at the box office, currently enjoying a 27-day domestic total of over $528 million. As of yesterday’s report from Walt Disney, it also has a colossal $1.22 billion overseas, for a global total of $1.75 billion. Entering its fifth week in a solid 4,045 cinemas, Way of Water easily retains its spot as this week’s widest release.

Catapulting into the second place spot this week is the Tom Hanks comedy-drama, A Man Called Otto. Expanding from 637 locations last week to a substantial 3,802 this week, the film hopes to significantly grow its $5.82 million in earnings since opening in four venues on December 30.

The third- and fourth-widest releases this week are a pair of Universal Pictures films that have found success of their own, despite trailing one of the most successful films of all time. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, enters its fourth week in a solid 3,681 theaters this week, while last weekend’s newcomer, M3GAN secures its place as the fourth-largest release by making itself available in 3,604 movie houses—an increase of 95 since last weekend. The horror film scared up over $30 million in its opening weekend and currently has a six-day North American total of $36.9 million, while scoring over $17 million internationally.

As previously mentioned, a handful of new wide releases make their way into cinemas this weekend. The largest of these, and also residing as the fifth-largest release of the week, is the Gerard Butler thriller Plane. Starting out in 3,023 cinemas, the movie stars Butler as a pilot who saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island—only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. Also making its theatrical debut is the reboot of the early 90s cult classic, House Party starring Kid n Play. Expected to arrive in about 1,500 locations, the new House Party is directed by Calmatic and contains a collection of cameo appearances including LeBron James, Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg, among others. Debuting in 925 movie houses this week is The Devil Conspiracy, while the supernatural horror, Skinamarink opens in 692 locations.

Looking ahead to next week, another trio of new wide releases make their theatrical entrance, including That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: Scarlet Bond, New Gods: Yang Jian, and Missing, with the latter expected to debut in about 3,000 locations. The psychological thriller stars Storm Reid and Nia Long and is directed by Will Merrick and Nick Johnson.

Note: The theater count for House Party is an estimate from Box Office Pro.

Theater Counts for January 13

Theater Counts for January 20

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Theater Counts