James Cameron’s Avatar came back to theatres this weekend, and it’s prompted no shortage of discussion about its impact (or lack thereof) on the greater cultural landscape. Whether or not you think that the first of five planned films left a mark on popular culture will have to wait for another day, because the re-release is currently busy re-confirming that yes, there’s very much still some interest in the science fantasy franchise.
Per Deadline, Avatar’s return to cinemas led to a $US30 ($42).5 ($42) million global box office, with most of that coming from the international market. That’s pretty impressive for a movie nearly 15 years old, and seems to vindicate Cameron’s hopes from last week that the film would drive folks back to theatres. With the extra $US30 ($42) mil, Avatar also retains its spot as the highest-grossing movie of all time, as its overall take is at $US2.85 ($4) billion. It looks like the film will remain in theatres until next week at the very least, meaning it’ll be increasing its haul even more in the days ahead before The Way of Water lands in December.
Domestically, however, Avatar was beat out of first place by Don’t Worry Darling. The 1950s thriller starring Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, and Chris Pine earned $US19.2 ($27) million here in the US, the leading contributor to its overall $US30 ($42) million worldwide take. All the discussion and discourse about the film and its stars seems to have paid off in the short run, but time will tell if it’s got any real legs, considering its reviews at the moment are largely mixed bordering on negative.
Next weekend will see the release of Paramount’s Smile, which has been getting mostly great impressions out of Fantastic Fest. Bolstered by a pretty good (and incredibly creepy) marketing campaign of smiling people at baseball games over the weekend, the horror film seems to be shaping up to usher in the season of scares with a smile.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.