The first box office numbers for M3GAN are in, and its opening night is slightly ahead of last year's Smile. A joint production between James Wan and Jason Blum, M3GAN follows Get Out's Allison Williams as a brilliant roboticist who creates the titular artificially intelligent doll to look over her recently orphaned niece (played by Doctor Sleep's Violet McGraw), and she soon develops self-awareness and becomes hostile to anyone who stands in her way. After enjoying a viral marketing campaign and garnering overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics ahead of its release on January 6, audiences are now getting the chance to see the killer doll movie in theaters.
Now, the first box office numbers for M3GAN are in. Per Variety, the sci-fi horror film opened to $2.75 million in Thursday night preview showings. This is slightly ahead of Smile, which opened to $2.1 million last year. These numbers are a positive sign for M3GAN since Smile went on to earn $216 million at the box office and become the highest-grossing horror movie of 2022.
Can M3GAN Top Avatar: The Way of Water This Weekend?
While M3GAN's box office projections are looking respectable, it isn't expected to top Avatar: The Way of Water in its opening weekend. This is less of an indictment of the horror movie, and more of a testament to the staying power of James Cameron's blockbuster. Having already made $2.75 million from Thursday night previews, M3GAN is projected to gross anywhere from $17 million to $20 million during its opening weekend which, with a budget of only $17 million, would put it in the black very quickly.
M3GAN will take a slight cut out of Avatar: The Way of Water's fourth weekend in theaters, though it won't be nearly enough to stop its dominance at the box office. Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to make $30 million to $35 million this weekend. However, James Cameron's sequel has been showing some signs of slowing down, as this is roughly half what the movie earned last week over the New Year’s Day weekend, with the four-day total over the holiday weekend adding up to $82 million.
While it won't be topping Avatar: The Way of Water anytime soon, opening ahead of Smile on Thursday night is an encouraging sign for M3GAN. The comparison is an appropriate one since both low-budget horror movies enjoyed viral marketing campaigns, with Smile sending people to photobomb baseball games and M3GAN inspiring TikTok dance challenges. Smile set the precedent by becoming the highest-grossing horror movie of 2022, and with M3GAN off to a better start, only time will tell if the first major release of 2023 can reach similar heights.
Source: Variety