"Avatar: The Way of Water" is the box office king for a third consecutive week, and shows no sign of slowing down.
James Cameron's long-awaited sequel to the first "Avatar" film brought in an estimated $63 million over the holiday weekend, roughly the same as the previous week, and now has made more than $400 million domestically and more than $1.3 billion globally. "The Way of Water" is already the 15th highest global release ever, just behind the first "Black Panther."
Numbers released Sunday by Comscore showed "Avatar" far ahead of the runner-up, Universal's "Shrek" spinoff "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," which made an estimated $16 million, and Disney's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," which brought in around $4.8 million.
The Sony biopic "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody" made $4.2 million in its second week of release. "Babylon," the epic of early Hollywood starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, continued to fare badly despite its five Golden Globe nominations. The Paramount release earned just $2.7 million in its second week, a 24% drop, and averaged just $815 per location. By comparison, the new "Avatar," a 20th Century Studios film, averaged more than $15,000.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Avatar: The Way of Water," $63 million.
2. "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," $16 million.
3. "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," $4.8 million.
4. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," $4.2 million.
5. "Babylon," $2.7 million.
6. "Violent Night," $2.1 million.
7. "The Whale," $1.3 million.
8. "The Fabelmans," $1.1 million.
9. "The Menu," $1.1 million.
10. "Strange World," $538,000.
Singer-Songwriter and Actor Kris Kristofferson Dies At 88
Kris Kristofferson, a Rhodes scholar with a deft writing style and rough charisma who became a country music superstar and an A-list Hollywood actor, has died.
Kristofferson died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, family spokeswoman Ebie McFarland said in an email. He was 88.
McFarland said Kristofferson died peacefully, surrounded by his family. No cause was given.
Starting in the late 1960s, the Brownsville, Texas native wrote such country and rock 'n' roll standards as "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," "Help Me Make it Through the Night," "For the Good Times" and "Me and Bobby McGee." Kristofferson was a singer himself, but many of his songs were best known as performed by others, whether Ray Price crooning "For the Good Times" or Janis Joplin belting out "Me and Bobby McGee."
He starred opposite Ellen Burstyn in director Martin Scorsese's 1974 film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," starred opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 "A Star Is Born," and acted alongside Wesley Snipes in Marvel's "Blade" in 1998.
Kristofferson, who could recite William Blake from memory, wove intricate folk music lyrics about loneliness and tender romance into popular country music. With his long hair and bell-bottomed slacks and counterculture songs influenced by Bob Dylan, he represented a new breed of country songwriters along with such peers as Willie Nelson, John Prine and Tom T. Hall.
"There's no better songwriter alive than Kris Kristofferson," Nelson said at a 2009 BMI award ceremony for Kristofferson. "Everything he writes is a standard and we're all just going to have to live with that."
Kristofferson retired from performing and recording in 2021, making only occasional guest appearances on stage, including a performance... Read More