Avatar 2 Has Officially Been Defeated By A Horror Movie
Knock at the Cabin took the top spot at the box office this week, while juggernaut Avatar 2 came in third.
It would seem there is a force that can take down the Na’vi, and that force is M. Night Shyamalan. His latest feature, Knock at the Cabin, took the top spot at the box office this weekend, knocking Avatar 2 from the pedestal it has enjoyed for a record seven weeks. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the long-awaited second chapter to James Cameron’s epic fell to number three this weekend, but not before setting box office records and even threatening to sink Titanic for the highest all-time gross.
Knock at the Cabin opened this weekend to a gross of $14.2 million and a global total of over $21 million, which, while respectable, is still the lowest gross from any M. Night Shyamalan film. Still, it was enough to overtake Avatar 2, as it brought in the 18 to 24 male demographic in droves. The movie follows a family of three as they are terrorized by a group of strangers who believe they are having apocalyptic visions.
Avatar 2 also found stiff competition from, of all people, Tom Brady, or rather his fans. 80 for Brady came in second this weekend, drawing audiences over 35, especially women over age 55. The road trip story stars Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field as four elderly women who go on a road trip with the intent to meet football superstar Tom Brady.
Part of what factored into 80 for Brady overtaking Avatar 2 for ticket sales was an unprecedented move by Paramount to lower ticket prices to aid theaters in recovery from the pandemic. With theaters closed for most of 2020 and limited seating due to social distancing reducing the number of seats filled, the move to lower ticket prices was intended to draw adults still nervous about going to the movies. It seems to have worked, as the movie drew 1.3 million viewers, while Knock at the Cabin only brought in 1.1 million.
Another factor in ticket sales for all movies has been the weather, which has kept moviegoers in the Northeast indoors. Ticket sales from major metropolitan areas like Boston could have added greatly to the receipts for Avatar 2 and its competitors and potentially changed the numbers.
Nevertheless, Avatar 2 has already made its mark on movie history. It is currently the #4 highest-grossing movie of all time, bested only by its predecessor, Avengers: Endgame, and Titanic. It has broken records as the fastest movie to reach $1 billion in 2022, and the highest-grossing opening weekend for director James Cameron – whose body of work is already impressive with Titanic, Terminator 2, and the first Avatar movie.
The stiffest competition for any of these movies will probably be the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania at the end of February, and by then, Avatar 2 will have been in the theater for almost three months. Whether the movie has the staying power to last that long is up to Disney, as they are probably eager to promote the movie on their streaming platforms. However, as long as the Na’vi are bringing people to the theater, it will run as long as it needs to.
