Avatar: The Way of Water to Lose Top Spot at the Box Office to Knock at the Cabin

After an impressive seven weeks at the top of the box office, Avatar: The Way of Water will finally cede its position to the new horror movie Knock at the Cabin. Building on $5.4 million in its first day, Knock at the Cabin, the latest from M. Night Shyamalan, is headed for $14.7 million in its opening weekend. It will be Shyamalan's seventh number-one opening as a director. The Avatar sequel will fall to third place with $10.2 million in its eighth weekend. It lands behind Paramount's new sports comedy 80 for Brady, which is opening with an estimated $13 million.

Knock at the Cabin is sporting a C CinemaScore and a "Fresh" but not "Certified Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus on the aggregation site reads, "Although it's often less than scary and parts of the story don't bear scrutiny, Knock at the Cabin is a thought-provoking chiller and upper-tier Shyamalan." ComicBook.com's Patrick Cavanaugh awarded the film a score of 4-out-of-5 in his review. He writes:

"Knock at the Cabin delivers audiences a perplexing premise that feels all-too-real yet one that is just heightened enough to allow for some escapism, with its overall narrative structure making it easy to buy into the events and keep us invested until its conclusion. The intimate nature of the setting and engaging performances from a cohesive ensemble help sell the outlandishness of the concept, and even if the final outcome irritates audiences, those disappointed in the outcome are only capable of feeling those frustrations because you invested in the resolution so deeply and easily. The experience could have easily marked three disappointments in a row for Shyamalan, but he's managed to bounce back strongly enough by embracing his narrative and directorial strengths that we'll continue checking out the big swings that keep us on our toes instead of him resting on his laurels."

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and The Chosen Season 3 finale round out this weekend's top 5. The full list of the top 10 films at the box office this weekend follows.