Despite the fact that this month only saw the release of one big-budget movie, February 2023's box office receipts are already considerably greater than those of 2022.
The box office figures for February 2023 are significantly higher than those for the same month in 2022 as theaters recover from the pandemic. The months of January and February have earned the moniker "dump months," when studios often release movies that may only appeal to a narrow audience and aren't anticipated to do well financially. The box office success of horror and comedies in previous years has, however, altered public perception, with February 2023's cinema releases faring even better than February 2022.
While Tom Holland's action movie Uncharted was the biggest release of February 2022 and ended up grossing over $401 million globally, February 2023 features a wider variety of hits. February 2023 features box office winners with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Knock at the Cabin, Titanic's 25th-anniversary re-release, Magic Mike's Last Dance, and the continued dominance of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, starting off with the unexpectedly successful comedy 80 for Brady, which has already exceeded its budget. The anticipated success of February 24's Cocaine Bear will ensure that the February 2023 box office maintains its incredible run of good fortune.
The box office for February 2023 has already surpassed that of 2022.
Uncharted contributed about a quarter of February 2022's total domestic revenue, which was roughly $365.9 million. With one more box office weekend left, February 2023 has already surpassed $365 million (via Box Office Mojo). In reality, Cocaine Bear, which is based on a true story, will be the month of February 2023's final big release, so the overall box office revenue for the month will increase significantly over the final four days. Even if February 2023 contains more theatrical releases than February 2022, overall box office receipts will continue to climb significantly, making this year more successful.
The top five domestic grosses in February 2023 at the box office were Puss in Boots: The Final Wish, Knock at the Cabin, 80 for Brady, David Cameron's blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water, and the most recent entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. After its opening weekend, the latter film had already made well over $120 million, but given current MCU dip tendencies, it's unknown how much of a second-week drop it will experience. The ultimate cumulative gross for February 2023's box office, which has been dominated by Disney and Universal films, won't even come close to the statistics for February 2022.
Quantumania & Cocaine Bear Will Make February 2023 Even Greater for Ant-Man & The Wasp
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is scheduled to be released in February 2023, isn't anticipated to perform significantly better than the previous two Ant-Man films, which brought in $519.3 and $622.7 million, respectively. According to projections, Ant-Man 3 will make around $750 million at the box office worldwide, however, only a small percentage of this sum will be realized during the remaining days of February. The weekend of February 24 is expected to see at least another $50 million in domestic box office receipts for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, pushing the month's total revenue past $415 million.#AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania $104.0M #AvatarTheWayOfWater $6.1M #MagicMikesLastDance $5.4M https://t.co/MaGB2WNHOB pic.twitter.com/BW9jc3M7tq
— Box Office Mojo (@boxofficemojo) February 19, 2023
While the top-grossing movie of February 2023 will undoubtedly continue to be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Cocaine Bear will help push the month's overall total up significantly until February 28. The bizarre Super Bowl 2023 trailers and teasers for Universal's horror-comedy movie generated a lot of discussions online, which bodes well for the movie's strong box-office debut. Considering the remarkable appreciation in the movie's early reviews, Cocaine Bear's predicted opening weekend gross of $20 million could really be greater. The domestic box office total for February 2023 could increase to about $440 million because of Cocaine Bear's revenues.
Of course, the ongoing release of James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, which isn't anticipated to slow down anytime soon, will also boost the box office over the final weekend of February 2023. The statistics will also remain strong through the end of the month thanks to interest in films like Knock at the Cabin, Titanic, 80 for Brady, and Magic Mike's Final Dance. As a result, February 2023's total domestic box office revenue may reach $450 million, or around $100 million more than February 2022's total.#AvatarTheWayOfWater $15.7M #PussInBoots $10.6M #AManCalledOtto $6.8M https://t.co/r06x18NocM pic.twitter.com/952H3tzJGO
— Box Office Mojo (@boxofficemojo) January 29, 2023
