Box Office Report for the Week of December 28

Big Jim has done it again, folks. Avatar: Fire and Ash is on its way to make $1 billion by New Year’s and has barely dropped from its first to second weekend, with the Christmas Corridor in full swing and aiding the film in turning a profit for Disney once again. The Avatar franchise has historically not had spectacular opening weekends, but it is known for its staying power in cinemas, and it looks like Fire and Ash will be no different and will absolutely carry the next few weeks as we transition from 2025 to 2026, with studios more focused on awards than tentpoles (at least from January until March).

When Fire and Ash crosses the billion-dollar mark, James Cameron will be the only filmmaker with four billion-dollar hits on his belt, which includes Titanic, the first Avatar, and The Way of Water, alongside his latest effort. The film grossed $64 million in its second weekend, a 28% drop, and $88 million since the Christmas holiday. Its legs are far more important than The Way or Water, which proves, once more, why you should never bet against the King of the Box Office, no matter the film.

With Christmas in full swing and most of the country on holiday, the last film releases provided a diversified portfolio for moviegoers, but the clear winner is obviously Josh Safdie‘s Marty Supreme, with the movie garnering incredible Oscar buzz for Timothée Chalamet‘s lead performance and now becoming A24’s second highest-grossing opening ever, with a $17.5 million tally on the three-day weekend and $28.3 million since it released on Christmas.

As for the other releases this weekend, Tom Gormican‘s Anaconda might not have performed as Sony hoped, making a decent, but not spectacular $14.5 million on a $45 million budget, and had a solid $26.7 million cume since Christmas. It’s still much better than Craig Brewer‘s Song Sung Blue, which grossed $7.6 million over the three-day weekend and $12 million since its opening. Not great, but it could leg out as Kate Hudson‘s performance as Claire Sardina was nominated for a Golden Globe.

With Timothée Chalamet now proving himself as a bonafide star with hits like Wonka and A Complete Unknown, Marty Supreme shows that his staying power in Hollywood will be legendary as the movie will undoubtedly garner more buzz and perhaps gain further momentum as awards season ramp up, even if, currently, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another is favored to win pretty much everything. However, that film was a commercial failure, despite being Anderson’s highest-grossing project. Could the cards flip in favor of more awards for Marty Supreme? Time will tell, but Marty Mauser will certainly not go down without a fight…

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash (Disney): $64.0M (-28%) – 3,800 theatres
2. Zootopia 2 (Disney): $20.0M (-35%) – 3,370 theatres
3. Marty Supreme (A24): $17.5M – 2,668 theatres
4. The Housemaid (Lionsgate): $15.4M (-19%) – 3,402 theatres
5. Anaconda (Sony): $14.5M – 3,509 theatres
6. David (Angel Studios): $12.6M (-42%) – 3,003 theatres
7. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (Paramount): $11.2M (-28%) – 3,570 theatres
8. Song Sung Blue (Universal): $7.6M – 2,587 theatres
9. Wicked: For Good (Universal): $5.2M (+8%) – 2,008 theatres
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Universal): $4.4M (-43%) – 2,280 theatres

Source: Comscore