Weekend Box Office: The Waiting of Water
Tuesday, December 13, 2022 at 11:28AM By Ben Miller
Remember a month ago when no film wanted to release ahead of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever? The box office is on the second verse, same as the first with the anticipation of Avatar: The Way of Water debuting next weekend. Wakanda was tops for the fifth straight week of putrid box office. The weekend total was just $35.5 million, which is the second worst of the year after the last weekend in January! Thank goodness we have the Na'vi to save the box office. God forbid studios try to release counterprogramming. Apparently, the National Association of Theater Owners agree but Hollywood isn't cooperating...
| Weekend Box Office (actuals) Dec 9th-11th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = Recommended |
|
| WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS) | LIMITED / PLATFORM |
 VIOLENT NIGHT |
 THE WHALE |
| 1 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $11.2 (cum. $409.9) | 1 🔺 SPOILER ALERT $680k (cum. $782k) 783 screens |
| 2 VIOLENT NIGHT $8.7 (cum. $26.7) |
2 🔺 THE WHALE $360k *NEW* 6 screens |
| 3 STRANGE WORLD $3.7 (cum. $30.6) |
3 🔺 EVANGELION: 3.0+1.01 THRICE UPON A TIME $320k *NEW* 726 screens |
| 4 ★ THE MENU $2.7 (cum. $29) |
4 🔺 THE MEAN ONE $218k *NEW* 162 screens |
| 5 ★ DEVOTION $2.0 (cum. $17) |
5 ★ THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN $165k (cum. $8.5) 270 screens |
|
6 BLACK ADAM $1.3 (cum. $166.8) |
6 🔺 EMPIRE OF LIGHT $163k *NEW* 110 screens |
 THE FABELMANS |
 EMPIRE OF LIGHT |
|
7 🔺 ★ THE FABELMANS $1.1 (cum. $7.3) |
7 🔺 CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS $140k *NEW* 301 screens |
|
8 I HEARD THE BELLS $750k (cum. $4) |
8 ★ TÁR $67k (cum. $5.3) 80 screens |
|
9 ★ TICKET TO PARADISE $622k (cum. $67.5) |
9 🔺 THE SPARING PARTNER $57k *NEW* 13 screens |
|
10 ★ BONES AND ALL $582k (cum. $7.2) |
10 TILL $46k (cum. $8.9) 97 screens |
|
11 ★ TOP GUN: MAVERICK (encore) $452k (cum.. $718.5) |
11 🔺 ★ ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED $45k (cum. $155k) 35 screens |
| 12 LYLE LYLE CROCODILE $329k (cum. $46.1) |
12 🔺 ★ EO $39k (cum. $143k) 14 screens |
| 13 🔺 FATHER STU (new cut/encore) $135k (cum. $21.1) |
13 ★ DECISION TO LEAVE $21k (cum. $1.9) 40 screens |
On the limited/platform side, Darren Aronofsky's Oscar-hopeful The Whale opened on just six screens but managed $60k per screen. The Brendan Fraser-starring drama doesn't expand until December 21st, so they'll have to be happy with the best per-screen average. Meanwhile, the gay romance-drama Spoiler Alert expanded to just under 800 screens and barely made a dent. Neither did Sam Mendes' Empire of Light on just over 100 screens.
Next week, Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to have a $150+ million opening and plenty of awards acclaim to go along with it. Nothing else dares to go up against it.
What did you see this weekend? I tried to squeeze in every outstanding screener I had, so I watched Corsage, Babylon, Devotion, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, and Holy Spider. I also made my kids watch Home Alone for the first time, which was a nice deviation from all the heavy drama.
Reader Comments (8)
I saw three mediocre-to-bad auteur titles in Pinocchio, White Noise, and Amsterdam.
I'm an Oscar completist, but I have so little interest in the Avatar sequel - even less given its length. I'll be seeing All the Beauty and the Bloodshed this weekend.
jules -- you though pinocchio and white noise were mediocre to bad?
I didn't see much
Endless Night 1972 Hayley Mills thriller with a fine few twists
The Good House with Sigourney,she still has it and more.
I don't want to see either BP Wakanda cos I haven't seen the first one or Avatar 2 and i'm a Sigourney completist but I can't remember much about the first Avatar apart from being nice to look at.
Saw Spoiler Alert and absolutely LOVED it. Do not judge me but Aldridge would definitely be on my Best Actor ballot if I had one and I loved the screenplay too.
Nathaniel - I did. I haven't liked a Del Toro film since Crimson Peak, but I keep hoping I would like one as much as his early work. Pinocchio really annoyed me, I felt the kid's voice was like nails on a chalkboard and did not like the songs at all. I'm chalking this one up to "it's not the film, it's me" since everyone else seems to love it.
White Noise was a bigger surprise, as I love Baumbach - even his "difficult" films. This is easily my least favorite movie of his. The tone just doesn't work (and at times feels inconsistent), and I felt Adam Driver was miscast, which is fatal to the movie since he's in nearly every scene.
I Loved "Spoiler Alert" too. Excellent plotting and great chemistry between Jim Parsons and hunky Ben Aldridge. I laughed! I cried!
A couple of short films on MUBI and also on MUBI, Decision to Leave which is now my #1 film of 2022.
The Inspection:
I hadn’t seen Jeremy Pope or Raul Castillo before, and they are both terrific actors. Now I understand the praise (and Tony Awards) for Pope. He really is someone special.
Aftersun:
I really liked this, want to see it again, think about it, and listen and talk with other people about it. I had never seen Paul Mescal before either, and he is also great.
Matilda: The Musical
Currently a limited theatrical release; on Netflix December 25.
I like musicals and I loved this one. Quick paced, vibrant colours, interesting songs.
I liked the way they focused on other children as well as the heroine Matilda, so they each had their moment of heroism and we saw them as a heroic community of children. Emma Thompson shows off her full panoply of theatrical skills as the violent headmistress Miss Trunchbull.
But the revelation for me was Lashana Lynch’s beautiful singing voice. Where has this wonderful singer been hiding? Oh wait - as Captain Marvel’s fighter pilot friend, as a 007 in the James Bond series, as Viola Davis’s second in command in The Woman King, and now as the sweet kind gentle singing teacher Miss Honey.