Box Office Report for the Week of January 4

Is James Cameron the king of the world? It’s highly possible, as the Canadian filmmaker has once again broken another record, becoming the only director with four consecutive $1 billion+ grossing films since 1997’s Titanic. That’s right, Avatar: Fire and Ash has predictably crossed the billion-dollar mark at around New Year’s Day, with Cameron still the reigning champion of the Christmas corridor. Yes, Fire and Ash opened lower than its predecessor, but none of the opening weekends for the first three installments of the Avatar franchise were spectacular.

It’s the staying power, coupled with the fact that most families are on holidays for two weeks, that caused the film to leg out and cross another milestone for Cameron, and now Disney, who has taken their place, once more, as the champion of the box office, with three of their titles crossing $1 billion globally, including the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia 2.

Of course, the year’s highest-grossing film wasn’t from Hollywood, but Ne Zha 2. The animated juggernaut crossed $1 billion in record time and quickly reached another milestone after the film opened outside China. It may be the most incredible box office success story of the year, and there’s hope the third installment could blow the records it has set out of the water, if anticipation for the sequel is as high as one might think.

Another example is Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, which grossed over $750 million worldwide and could break this record when the sequel eventually releases. It’s been a fantastic year for international animation, though Zootopia 2‘s score might prove that American animated studios could crack the code of broad-appealing family pictures, especially as many potential hits are on the horizon for 2026, including Toy Story 5 and Minions 3.

There’s much to look forward to at the box office this year, and potential hope that 2026 may be an even bigger year in film than 2025. It wasn’t a spectacular year, commercially speaking, but there were many box-office success stories, and, most importantly, the 2025 domestic box office was slightly higher than 2024, even with fewer films released than the previous year, at a combined $8.61 billion. Yes, many challenges are ahead for cinemas, including the potential Netflix takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, which was recently reported that the streamer may be interested in pursuing 17-day theatrical windows, a catastrophe of gargantuan proportions should reports on these matters be accurate.

That said, the successes of films such as Sinners, Weapons, and Marty Supreme prove that audiences are willing to go to the cinema for a communal experience (and even the limited theatrical engagement of the Stranger Things finale, grossing over $28 million on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day). In that regard, the big screen will always prevail, and no matter what occurs in this world daily, we always need movies. Now. More than ever.

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

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash (Disney): $40.0M (-37%) – 3,835 theatres
2. Zootopia 2 (Disney): $19.0M (-4%) – 3,285 theatres
3. The Housemaid (Lionsgate): $14.8M (-3%) – 3,070 theatres
4. Marty Supreme (A24): $12.5M (-29%) – 2,887 theatres
5. Anaconda (Sony): $10.0M (-31%) – 3,509 theatres
6. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (Paramount): $8.2M (-26%) – 3,217 theatres
7. David (Angel Studios): $8.0M (-36%) – 2,900 theatres
8. Song Sung Blue (Universal): $5.8M (-17%) – 2,705 theatres
9. Wicked: For Good (Universal): $3.2M (-39%) – 1,885 theatres
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Universal): $2.7M (-39%) – 1,986 theatres

Source: Comscore