SATURDAY AM WRITETHRU after Friday post… Rainstorms in Los Angeles aren’t getting in the way of moviegoing, nor is two-to-five inches of snow in NYC as 20th Century Studios’ James Cameron Avatar: Fire and Ash is leading, of course, the final weekend of 2025 with a second frame around $60M over Friday-Sunday, -33%, pending how today plays out.
That’s a better second weekend hold than 2022’s Avatar: Way of Water (-52%) which encountered fierce ice storms at the time, but nothing beats the second weekend ease of the original Avatar back in 2009, which dipped -1.8%.
With Christmas, the 4-day on Fire and Ash stands at $84M after a second Friday that came in at $22.6M at 3,800 theaters. Running cume by Sunday gets the threequel to $213.7M. The pic has already crossed the half billion mark worldwide.
In weekend 2 of Fire and Ash, general audiences continued to show up at 88% with parents repping 7% and kids under 12 at 4%. Mostly moms taking kids at 52%. Parents gave the 3 hour and 17-minute runtime movie a 90% definite recommend while kids (mostly boys at 69%) gave it a 62% must-see-right-away. Still a strong definite recommend from general audiences at 70%. Women over 25 (29% showing up) gave the threequel the best definite recommend at 76%. Men under 25 (16%) gave it the lowest definite recommend at 52%.
The final weekend of the year is ringing in with an estimated $180M, +5% from the same frame a year ago which was $171M. By the way, we’re coming off of the best Christmas week ever post Covid with an estimated $342.3M, +10% from last year’s previous high of $311.4M (per Box Office Mojo). We’re still down greatly from 2019, -29%, which was $485.5M, but that’s when we had Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker on marquees.
Disney has bragging rights for second place with Zootopia 2, which a month after its release refuses to be penned up at 3,370 theaters. Weekend 5 is $19M-$20M, +35% on the high-end for a running cume by Sunday of $321.3M. On the high-end, the 4-day is around $25.2M. The sequel is roughly $20M-$21M away from besting the original 2016’s stateside gross of $341.2M. As we reported earlier this week, Disney is the only major studio to click past $6 billion at the global box office.
A24’s Josh Safdie directed Marty Supreme in 4-days will make more than Timothee Chalamet’s Christmas movie from last year, A Complete Unknown did in 5 days, $26M-$27M to $23.2M.
Rivals are impressed by this number: It’s a period film about a ping-pong player from the Lower East Side, not an easy subject matter that creates a line to the multiplex, but it helps when you have the force of Chalamet in the campaign. The viral of it all sparked with the zoom sketch below. We already told you that the social media universe for Marty Supreme stood at 197M before opening across TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube; that’s with Chalamet standing atop The Sphere in Las Vegas. There was also a Marty Supreme blimp flying over Beverly Hills in further stunts. When polled by Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, moviegoers said the most influential form of advertising for Marty Supreme was social media (28%) and friends and family (19%).
Friday was $6.7M, -30% from Christmas Day’s $9.5M for a 3-day that stands at $16M-$17M at 2,668 theaters. Don’t be shocked if it’s higher, like a $17M 3-day and $30M 4-day. A24 has 70MM locations which are generating big bucks, and there’s some PLFs. Comp this to the previous Safdie Brothers movie, the zany gangster drama, Uncut Gems, which went wide over a 2019 5-day Christmas stretch with $18.8M. The Adam Sandler movie finaled at $50M.
The PostTrak definite recommend on Marty Supreme is a great 60% with 4 1/2 stars. Men over 25 are first in line at 36% followed by women over 25 at 27%, followed by men under 25 at 21% and women under 25 at 16%. 18-34 turnout is 66%. Even though women under 25 were surprisingly the smaller to show up yesterday, they love their Marty the most with a 94% positive and a 73% definite recommend. Diversity demos are 51% Caucasian, 23% Hispanic and Latino, 10% Black and 11% Asian American. Very good walk-up business with 52% buying their ticket same days. 50% went for Chalamet.
Marty Supreme is playing best on the East and West with close to half the gross coming from those regions versus a norm of 39% compared to all other films in the marketplace. Overperforming cities are NYC, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, DC, Boston, Toronto and more. The trajectory is showing that this Josh Safdie directed movie is playing more broadly than an art film. Regal Union Square is currently the top-grossing multiplex in the nation for the pic with close to $74k.
Fourth is a bit of a fight between Lionsgate’s The Housemaid holding in with a 3-day of $14.75M (4-day of $18.2M), after a Friday of $5.2M, and Sony’s Anaconda, which is sneaking up behind with a 3-day of $14.4M, 4-day of $23.5M, after a $5M Friday as well at 3,509 theaters. The 4-day start on the year’s previous most prolific comedy Naked Gun was $18.4M. Very good start here for Anaconda especially in regards to its budget of net $45M (Marty Supreme cost $65M before P&A).
Anaconda is playing best in South Central, Midwest, Mountain and West. The studio has some PLF screens. AMC Burbank is the leading location with just over $34K. General audiences showed up at 88% while parents arrived with kids under 12, respectively at 10% and 3%. Kids give it 5 stars, parents 4 stars. Largely mom leaning at 57%, but in overall general audience, guys outnumber women, 53% to 47%. Massive walk-up with 74% buying their tickets same day, but an alright definite recommend of 54%.
Anaconda‘s social media was propelled by Jack Black’s 48.7M fans along with Selton Melo’s 9.9M, however, Paul Rudd is off the grid. Social media analytics corp RelishMix says, “Convo runs positive for Anaconda when the crowd leans into self-awareness and comedy as the point, not the apology. There’s a clear pocket of viewers clocking the film as a deliberate tonal pivot, closer to Tropic Thunder, Jumanji, or Be Kind Rewind than creature-feature horror. These comments frame the cast as a feature, not a flaw, treating Black and Rudd as genre translators rather than sacred-cow desecrators. Nostalgia works when it’s playful, not reverent, and that’s where enthusiasm clusters. Humor-forward fans applaud the meta energy, soundtrack drops, and Christmas counter-programming angle. ‘Anaconda meets Tropic Thunder!!! I love it!’ and ‘Whoever thought of making Anaconda comedy action genius move!’ anchor this side of the conversation, often comparing it favorably to the original’s camp reputation rather than its scares.”
But most influential form of advertising for Anaconda? Twenty-nine percent say it was the in-theater trailer.
Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue‘
Focus Features
Focus Features’ Song Sung Blue at 2,587 theaters is seeing $2.66M on Friday, $7.6M for the 3-day and $12M for the 4-day. Rotten Tomatoes audience score is super at 98% certified fresh. Net production cost for the Craig Brewer directed title is $30M. The social media universe for the Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman movie counts 128M, which is under A Complete Unknown‘s 187.4M. Still, there’s Jackman pushing the pic to his 80.5M followers and Hudson to her 23.1M.
Of those heading to Song Sung Blue, 61% were women, 94% over 25. Major older-skewing with a massive 48% over 55, and 76% over 45 and 86% Caucasian. Narrow audience, but a very good 67% definite recommend with 94% positive and 5 stars. Where did they catch ads? Twenty-one percent said the in-theater trailer spurred them the most to go, followed by friends and family (21%) and TV spots on linear networks (13%). Married couples repped 42% of attendance (versus 19% with Marty Supreme and 25% for Anaconda). Again, walk-up business season is in full swing with 64% purchasing their tickets the same day.
Observes RelishMix: “Convo on Song Sung Blue lands strongest with audiences craving warmth, nostalgia, and communal musical comfort. The positive thread treats this less as prestige cinema and more as a feel-good jukebox experience, repeatedly framing schmaltz as intentional and welcome. Jackman’s musical credibility is defended through comparisons to The Greatest Showman and earlier stage-forward performances, while Neil Diamond’s catalog is viewed as emotional shorthand that does the heavy lifting. Fans lean into sing-along energy, cross-generational memory, and sincerity over subtlety, positioning the film as counter-programming to darker or more ironic releases. The tone here is knowingly corny but emotionally confident. ‘I think we all need a movie like this right now,’ and ‘Cheesy but also brilliant and heartfelt, perfect for Neil Diamond,’ neatly capture the pro argument.”
Coming up low on the limited side is Searchlight’s The Testament of Ann Lee starring Amanda Seyfried as the saucy Shaker religion founder and directed by The Brutalist producer and co-scribe Mona Fastvold with $23K on Friday, 3-day of $62K ($15,5K theater average) and running cume of $132K at four theaters in NYC and LA. Soft ticket sales. Critics give it an 89% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Weekend estimates as of Saturday AM:
- Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th) 3,800 theaters, Fri $22.6M (-38%), 3-day $60M (-33%), Total $213.7M/Wk 2
- Zootopia 2 (Dis) 3,370 theaters, Fri $6.7M (+66%), 3-day $19M-$20M (+35%), Total $321.3M/Wk 5
- Marty Supreme (A24) 2,668 (+2,662) theaters, Fri $6.7M (+1644%), 3-day $16M-$17M (+1786%), Total $25M-$27M/Wk 2
4. The Housemaid (LG) 3,042 (+27) theaters, Fri $5.2M (-34%), 3-day $14.75M (-22%), Total $45.8M/Wk 2
5.Anaconda (Sony) 3,509 theaters, Fri $5.4M, 3-day $14.4M, Total $22M/Wk 1
6. David (Angel) 2,867 (-251) theaters, Fri $4.7M (-51%), 3-day $13.5M (-39%), Total $50.5M/Wk 2
7. SpongeBob Movie..(Par) 3,570 (+13) theaters, Fri $3.84M (+20%), 3-day $11.45M (-27%), Total $38.4M/Wk 2
8. Song Sung Blue (Foc) 2,587 theaters, Fri $2.66M, 3-day $7.65M, Total $12M/Wk 1
9. Wicked: For Good (Uni) 2,008 (-905) theaters, Fri $1.85M (+45%), 3-day $4.75M (-2%), Total $331.3M/Wk 6
10. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Uni) 2,280 (-732) theaters, Fri $1.48M (-33%) 3-day $4M (-48%), Total $118.5M/Wk 4
