M3GAN, which premiered on January 6, 2023, grossed an incredible $30.2 million over the first weekend when it opened in 3,509 North American theaters. The film also generated $14.8 million from the international markets, bringing its overall earnings to $45 million.
M3GAN's opening weekend performance is impressive in several ways. In addition to the film garnering rave reviews from critics and audiences alike, it is on course to provide a massive return on investment given its $12 million budget. Also, the total gross is the first for a movie debuting in January since 2012's The Devil Inside, which grossed $33.7 million during its opening weekend.
M3GAN's impressive box office performance is echoed by Jim Orr, the head of Universal's Domestic Distribution. In his words, "M3GAN over-performed industry expectations and normal grossing patterns all weekend, demonstrating great word of mouth as reinforced by its tremendous critical and audience reaction scores and no doubt pointing to a great run at the domestic box office ahead."
Despite its impressive box office performance, M3GAN's domestic box office haul didn't do enough to dethrone James Cameron's Avatar sequel, which leads for the fourth week. The film took over $45 million in its fourth weekend, giving it a domestic gross of $516.7 million in less than a month. The James Cameron-directed blockbuster achieved the feat faster than the original Avatar and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, both of which took 32 days. The film also got to the half-a-billion dollars mark faster than Top Gun: Maverick, which took 30 days. Finally, it grossed over $1.5 billion before last year ended, making it the highest-grossing film of the year.