Shyamalan’s ‘Knock at Cabin’ takes No. 1

Word of mouth has always helped his films

M. Night Shyamalan works with Kristen Cui during a scene in Knock at the Cabin, which opened as the No. 1 movie at the U.S. box office.

Greg W. Locke

Whatzup Features Writer

Published February 8, 2023

M. Night Shyamalan’s 15th feature film, Knock at the Cabin, took the No. 1 spot at the U.S. box office last weekend, selling a decent $14.2 million over its first three days of release.

Add in foreign sales and Knock at the Cabin has made about $22 million. Not the smash opening you want from a thriller made by a household name director, but Shyamalan’s flicks — the good ones, at least — tend to keep selling tickets over time. Word-of-mouth always helps with a Shyamalan film, so don’t be surprised if this one keeps bringing in the bucks for several more weeks.

Knock at the Cabin holds a Metacritic score of 63 out of 100. For reference, here are the scores for some of his other movies: Wide Awake (1998), 50/100; The Sixth Sense (1999), 64/100; Unbreakable (2000), 62/100; Signs (2002), 59/100; The Village (2004), 44/100; Lady in the Water (2006), 36/100; The Happening (2008), 34/100; The Last Airbender (2010), 20/100; After Earth (2013), 33/100; The Visit (2015), 55/100; Split (2017), 62/100; Glass (2019), 43/100; and Old (2021), 55/100.

So, technically, Knock at the Cabin is Shyamalan’s second-best-reviewed film. I say go in with low expectations and enjoy it.

Also at the Box

An improbable comedy called 80 for Brady, starring Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Lily Tomlin, Sara Gilbert, Harry Hamlin, Bob Balaban, Jimmy O. Yang, Patton Oswalt, Rob Gronkowski and, yep, Tom Brady, took the No. 2 spot at last weekend’s box office, selling a solid $12.5 million over its first three days of release. Sounds very silly. I will someday watch this.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continued to roll, taking the No. 3 spot at the domestic box office by selling another $10.8 million. So far, The Way of Water has sold $2.175 billion worldwide, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of all time. Look for this one to ultimately land in the No. 3 spot behind the original Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Cameron’s own Titanic stands at No. 3, with just $20 million more in sales than The Way of Water. So, Cameron will firmly have three of the top four highest grossing films of all time. Incredible accomplishment. I only wish I liked any of the three films in the top four.

The beautifully animated Puss in Boots: The Last Wish took the No. 4 spot at the box, selling just under $8 million over its seventh weekend of release. Puss has now sold just under $370 million worldwide. Goodness gracious.

BTS: Yet to Come in Cinemas rounded out last weekend’s Top 5, with $6.28 million in sales.

Also of note, A Man Called Otto continued to sell tickets, taking the weekend’s No. 6 spot with another $4.2 million in sales. Otto has sold $83 million worldwide, making it a legit minor chapter in Tom Hanks’ film career.

New This Week

There’s nothing new you have to run out to the theater to see this weekend. That is, nothing I’m aware of.

The studios don’t like to put new films out on Super Bowl weekend because they believe it’s essentially a one-day weekend for the theaters. That being said, Cameron is doing another re-release for Titanic. I think that release is aimed at women who don’t care about football and people who want a cute Valentine’s Day date.

I’m not really a fan of that film, but I get why they re-release it so much. It’s basically a modern Gone with the Wind-level classic. Me? I hope he does Terminator 2: Judgment Day next.

Beyond that, most of the Oscar-nominated films are back on the big screens and, I think, very much worth checking out. I’ve been doing my best to see all the “great” films from 2022 and seeing some real gems along the way.