This weekend the Australian box office made $17.98 million, up 280% from last week’s $8.637 million.
With the summer holidays in full swing, audiences are flocking to cinemas to watch Avatar: The Way of Water – the long-awaited sequel to Avatar (2009), which was released in Australia last month.
This past weekend the sci-fi epic, which has a run time of three hours and 12 minutes, grossed $10.629 million and was watched on 1,007 screens across the country.
Directed by James Cameron, the film sees cast members Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, and Stephen Lang reprising their roles from the original film, with Kate Winslet and Cliff Curtis joining as new members.
The film reportedly cost $US350 million ($521 million) to make and has a long way to go to match the original film, which is the highest-grossing film in Australia with $115.7 million. Despite this, Avatar: The Way of Water outperformed the original Avatar’s Australian opening weekend box office result by +38%.
Family-friendly movies are also bringing in the big bucks these summer school holidays. Ranking second is Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, starring Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillén, Florence Pugh and Olivia Colman.
The star-studded animated film, which was released locally on Boxing Day, made $2.163 million across 404 screens across Australia this week.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile was another family Boxing Day release and stars Javier Bardem, Constance Wu and Canadian singer-songwriter Shawn Mendes as the titular character.
The live-action/CGI musical comedy, based on the best-selling book series by Bernard Waber, has been screened on 353 screens and made $1.573 million this week.
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody took #4 on the list and this week earned $1.201 million across 329 screens across Australia.
The biopic musical drama about the late songstress stars Naomi Ackie in the titular role alongside Stanley Tucci as Houston’s record producer and friend Clive Davis.
Rounding out the top five is The Banshees of Inisherin, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.
The black tragicomedy has been screened across 109 cinemas in Australia since its Boxing Day release and has made $659,340 at the box office this week.
#1 Avatar: The Way of Water – $10.629 million
The highly-anticipated sequel to Avatar saw a 48% lift from last week when it earned $7,158 million. In its three weeks of release, the film has grossed $51.424 million to date.
#2 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – $2.163 million
The star-studded Pixar film has grossed $55,400 since last weekend and has made $5.138 million to date.
#3 Lyle, Lyle Crocodile – $1.573 million
Since it’s Boxing Day release, the family musical-comedy has made $3.714 million to date.
#4 Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody – $1.201 million
The musical biopic about the life and times about the late pop icon has grossed $2.275 million since its release.
#5 The Banshee of Inisherin – $659,340
The black comedy has so far made $1.586 million at the Box Office. It has also received eight Golden Globe nominations and nine Critics Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Martin McDonagh and Best Actor of Colin Farrell.