Knock At The Cabin Scares Away Avatar At The Box Office
Did you hear that? "Knock at the Cabin" is number one at the box office.
After reigning supreme at the box office for seven weeks, James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" has officially been defeated. Taking the number one place at the domestic box office is M. Night Shyamalan's doomsday thriller "Knock at the Cabin." Deadline reports that Shyamalan's latest collab with Universal Pictures scared up $14.2 million. While below initial projections of $15 million, "Knock at the Cabin" marks the seventh time a Shayamlan flick has opened at number one. Looper praised the Dave Bautista-led film for its performances, engaging premise, and philosophical musings.
Second place goes to "80 for Brady," Paramount Pictures' NFL-focused comedy. The Tom Brady-produced flick managed to drum up a healthy $12.5 million during its debut weekend. A key part of "80 for Brady's" success can be attributed to its discounted ticketing scheme, which saw Paramount Pictures compelling exhibitors to provide a better value for the film's core audience of older patrons (via The Hollywood Reporter). Deadline says the average ticket price for "80 for Brady" is $9.79. The comedy, which stars Jane Fonda and Sally Field, among others, will boast discounted tickets for its entire theatrical run.
"Avatar: The Way of Water," meanwhile, slipped down to third place, raking in $10.2 million for Disney during its eighth weekend at the box office. Cameron's aquatic sequel is currently the fourth highest-grossing film of all time with a global cume that stands above $2.1 billion (via The Numbers).
The box office was mighty this weekend
The first "Avatar" was also dethroned from the number one spot during its seventh weekend. James Cameron's ground-breaking 3D bonanza was usurped by Channing Tatum's "Dear John" (via The Numbers) back in 2010. With "The Way of Water" graciously stepping down to the number three position, Disney's 12 week domination at the box office comes to an end (via ERCboxoffice). The studio brought the box office goods back-to-back by releasing "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and the "Avatar" sequel a month apart. Both films, together, led to Disney holding the top spot at the box office for 12 weeks.
M. Night Shyamalan knows just how monumental it is that his film dethroned "The Way of Water." Taking to Twitter, the "Knock at the Cabin" director praised Cameron's vision and thanked audiences for supporting his latest effort. "Thank you to all who made ['Knock at the Cabin'] the number one film this weekend!" he said. "Much love to James Cameron, he's a hero to me. Glad to be in theaters with you."
February's first weekend at the box office is nothing short of impressive. The weekend brought in a whopping $81 million domestically, 36% higher than last year in the same timeframe, according to Deadline. Such a profitable weekend can be attributed to the diverse offerings on display throughout the nation's multiplexes. Older audiences in particular showed up this weekend, supporting "80 for Brady" and the Tom Hanks-starring "A Man Called Otto," which passed $50 million domestically this weekend. International audiences also made an impact, with the South Korean concert film " BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas" grossing $6.3 million over the three day weekend. Meanwhile, Indian action-thriller "Pathaan" nabbed nearly $3 million at the box office, coming in at the number 10 spot.