Marc Forster’s dramedy A Man Called Otto, starring Tom Hanks, is doing solid business at the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday box office in a much-needed win for adult-skewing movies.
The Sony release, playing in 3,802 theaters, earned a better-than-expected $15.3 million over the long weekend, enough to beat new wide offering Plane, an action pic starring Gerard Butler. Otto expanded nationwide after starting out in select theaters at the year-end box office. It earned an A Cinemascore on top of strong reviews.
Plane, from Lionsgate, launched to $12 million for the four days from 3,023 cinemas. The movie, earning a B+ CinemaScore from moviegoers, also came in ahead of expectations.
Both films are drawing most of their strength from consumers over the age of 45.
The two movies are looking at fourth- and fifth-place finishes, respectively. Holding at No. 1 is James Cameron’s powerhouse Avatar: The Way of Water, which grossed a rousing $40.6 million at the domestic box office. The Disney and 20th Century tentpole is expected to finish Monday with a domestic total of $572.4 million.
Globally, The Way of Water crossed the $1.9 billion mark on Monday, one of the best showings of all time. The movie is now assured of becoming only the sixth film to cross the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office, not adjusted for inflation. The sequel’s international gross stood at $1.33 billion through Sunday, including $211.8 million in China, the best showing of the pandemic era for a Hollywood film.
At the domestic box office, horror offering M3GAN scared up strong business in its second weekend with earnings of $21.7 million for the four days from 3,605 locations. That would put the movie’s domestic total at $60.3 million through Monday against a modest $12 million budget. M3GAN is from Universal, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.
Universal also claimed the third spot on the chart with family film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, which earned an estimated $19 million for the four days from 3,687 cinema to jump the $100 million mark domestically and finish Monday with a North American total of $112 million.
Among other new nationwide offerings, House Party — which was initially set up to debut on HBO Max — is looking at a sixth-place finish with a four-day opening of $4.7 million from 1,300 theaters. The pic is produced by LeBron James, who also has a cameo in the comedy redux.
The Devil Conspiracy is falling flat in its debut with a projected four-day opening of $551,000.