August was nothing to write home about this year. At $450,744,880 with just three days left, this month’s box office receipts barely surpassed 2021’s box office receipts ($417,701,047) and was nearly just half of pre-pandemic 2019’s receipts ($837,630,353), but is there hope on the horizon?
2009’s mega-hit Avatar (domestic: $760,507,625; worldwide: $2,847,397,339) is scheduled for re-release on Sept. 23 as a lead in for the super-hyped sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, one of the most anticipated releases in recent memory, scheduled for release on December 16.
One could argue that previous month’s blockbusters and upcoming holiday season releases have put a wet blanket on the current and coming months’ movie scene. Any way you look at it, 2022 ($5,253,608,230) has already surpassed 2021 ($4,489,634,003). But 2019 ($11,320,802,444) leaves a big hill to climb.
Back to August. As of Aug. 29, Bullet Train leads the way with a total take of $78,206,593 since its August 5 release. Runner up DC League of Super-Pets brought in $ 51,085,368. Bringing up the remainder of the month’s Top 5 include Top Gun: Maverick ($40,901,567), Nope ($37,009,875), and Thor: Love and Thunder ($34,946,358).
See you at the movies!