M. Night Shyamalan's new horror flick "Knock at the Cabin" has ousted "Avatar: The Way of Water" from the cinema throne in the USA. Despite the top ranking, the joy of the makers should be moderate.
Horror strips replace sci-fi spectacles: The US feature film "Knock at the Cabin" by director M. Night Shyamalan has conquered the top of the North American cinema charts, as reported by "The Hollywood Reporter" and "Variety". The film grossed over $14 million on its debut weekend. The psychologically tinged mystery project thus succeeded in dethroning "Avatar: The Way of Water" from the cinema throne. James Cameron's blockbuster previously topped the North American box office for seven straight weeks.
Nevertheless, the respectful success should not trigger unbridled jubilation among those responsible for "Knock At The Cabin". In terms of box office earnings on the debut weekend, no film by M. Night Shyamalan has had a worse start to date. Even the mystery film "Old", widely scorned by critics and audiences, grossed more in 2021 with 16.8 million US dollars - despite the omicron variant of the corona virus, which was still rampant at the time.
Shyamalan's latest horror scenario revolves around a young family vacationing in a cabin. But instead of a quiet break, a real shock awaits them: strangers attack the family and tell them something about an approaching apocalypse. Everything indicates that there will be a totally crazy twist at the end - after all, that's what mystery mastermind M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") is known for. "Knock at the Cabin" starts in German cinemas on February 9th, alongside Dave Bautista, "Harry Potter" star Rupert Grint can also be seen.
"Avatar: The Way of Water" is still chasing records
Even if "Avatar: The Way of Water" has lost the top spot in the US cinema charts for the time being, this does not detract from the success story of the blockbuster. With grossing over two billion US dollars, the visually stunning sci-fi epic currently ranks fourth among the world's most successful films of all time.
James Cameron's first masterpiece "Avatar - Aufbruch nach Pandora" (2009) from the Pandora universe (still) dominates with almost three billion dollars ahead of "Avengers: Endgame" (about 2.8 billion dollars) and "Titanic" (about 2, 2 billion dollars). Soon "Avatar: The Way Of Water" or "Titanic" should leave behind, about 20 million dollars are still missing.
