MOVIE NEWS – The 21-day unbroken US blockbuster streak of Avatar: The Way of Water was interrupted on Friday by the killer android baby known as M3GAN.

As unlikely as it may seem, Avatar: The Way of Water was narrowly beaten by Blumhouse horror M3GAN. The former would have topped the US box office charts for the 22nd day in a row. The new film, about a technologically advanced robot running amok, was expected to do well at the box office. But the movie exceeded all expectations and almost made back its budget with a gross of $11.7 million. And that was just enough to displace James Cameron’s epic sequel.

According to Box Office Mojo, M3GAN beat Avatar: The Way of Water by just $300,000 on its Friday release, and while the Avatar sequel will undoubtedly reclaim the daily crown for the foreseeable future, Universal and Blumhouse will certainly be celebrating M3GAN’s incredible performance.

While Avatar: The Way of Water still takes the weekend box office title, it will undoubtedly come as a shock to everyone at 20th Century Studios that its 21-day daily run is interrupted by a film that shouldn’t have been a contender. It also shows how dominant lower-budget horror films and social media trends have been over the past year. It also proves that it’s not always about who has the most spectacular special effects and the enormous budget.

How has M3GAN performed against already high box office projections?

Blumhouse has brought to the table some of the best-known horror films of the last decade. In the case of M3GAN, it looked like another bloody, middling success for the production company and Universal. But everything changed when a clip from the film went viral on social media. This effectively wholly shifted the direction of the release.

When teenagers began sharing a surreal dance clip from the film on TikTok and other social media sites, Universal saw an opportunity to soften the film’s R-rated content and target a more audience-friendly PG-13 rating.

Undoubtedly, M3GAN would not have had the same viewership if this change had not been made. In addition, it appears that the film now has a secret weapon ready for home video and streaming release. After all, the R-rated film version still exists and will likely see the light of day as a director’s cut.

Source: Box Office Mojo