James Cameron is almost singlehandedly keeping cinemas afloat in the new year as “Avatar: Fire and Ash” leads the box office for the fourth consecutive weekend. His third Na’vi adventure generated $21.3 million from 3,700 theaters between Friday and Sunday, bringing its total to $342.6 million domestically and $1.23 billion globally.
Those ticket sales were twice as much as the next biggest films, including newcomer “Primate” and holiday holdover “The Housemaid.” Those two films are neck-in-neck for second place, with each estimated to generate $11 million over the weekend. (Final tallies will be reported on Monday.)
“Primate” appears to have the slight edge over the competition with $11.3 million from 2,964 venues in its opening weekend. “Primate” also earned $2.1 million internationally for a global start of $13.4 million. Moviegoers appear mixed on the $21 million-budgeted film, which received a “B-” grade on CinemaScore exit polls. “Primate” follows a friend group whose tropical vacation goes awry when a nearby chimpanzee becomes violent. Paramount is distributing the film, the first under the studio’s production deal with 18Hz, run by former DC Films chief Walter Hamada.
Lionsgate’s psychological thriller “The Housemaid,” which looks to take the No. 3 spot with $11.2 million, has continued to draw impressive crowds. After four weekends of release, the R-rated film has earned $94.15 million in North America and $192 million worldwide. It’s an especially great result considering “The Housemaid” cost just $35 million to make.
“Zootopia 2” dropped to fourth place with $10.1 million in its seventh weekend of release. The animated sequel has been a box office powerhouse with $378.8 million domestically and $1.65 billion to date, ranking as Walt Disney Animation’s highest-grossing movie of all time.
Another new release, Lionsgate’s disaster sequel “Greenland 2: Migration” with Gerard Butler, rounded out the top five with $8.5 million from 2,710 locations. The original film, 2020’s “Greenland,” debuted on demand in the U.S. because of COVID, but became a modest hit overseas with $52 million. The sequel was produced by STX for $90 million; Lionsgate acquired the domestic rights for $10 million. “Greenland 2,” which earned a tepid “B-” grade on CinemaScore, follows a family who search to find a new home after a comet strike that decimated most of the planet.
“This is a flat start,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. However, he adds that “Gerard Butler is a well-liked action star around the world. International numbers and ancillary rental and streaming business should be good.”
Sixth place went to A24’s “Marty Supreme” with $7.3 million from 2,512 theaters, declining around 38% from the prior weekend. Those ticket sales take the Timothee Chalamet-led ping pong dramedy past $70 million in North America and $84 million globally, ranking as one of A24’s biggest movies of all time. “Marty Supreme” cost $70 million to produce, the most expensive film to date for A24, so it’ll need to stick around through the winter to rationalize its budget. (Theaters get to keep roughly half of revenues.) However, awards attention — Chalamet just won the Critics Choice for best actor, is nominated tonight for a Golden Globe and will likely find himself in the Oscar race — helps justify the studio’s spend in ways beyond the balance sheet.
Elsewhere, Searchlight’s “Is This Thing On?” brought in $2.3 million while expanding to 1,475 theaters. The film, directed by Bradley Cooper and starring Will Arnett as a divorcee who turns to stand-up comedy, has grossed $3.4 million to date.
Another awards hopeful, Neon’s dark comedy “No Other Choice,” has generated $1.3 million from just 147 theaters over the weekend. The film, from acclaimed South Korean director Park Chan-wook, has amassed an impressive $3.4 million while in limited release.
Meanwhile, Angel Studios debuted “I Was a Stranger,” which earned $1.2 million from 1,400 theaters to land at No. 15 on domestic charts. The PG-13 film, which carries a $6 million budget, takes place after tragedy strikes a Syrian family in Aleppo.
So far, the box office is pacing slightly ahead of 2025. Although January is known to be slower for theaters, this month could be busier than expected with blockbuster hopefuls including Sony’s apocalyptic thriller “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” the anime “All You Need Is Kill,” Amazon MGM’s sci-fi adventure “Mercy” with Chris Pratt, Sam Raimi’s survival horror film “Send Help” and the Jason Statham-led “Shelter.”
“We’re hoping for a stronger start to the year than in 2025 and 2024,” says Gross. “For the [January] box office to approach pre-pandemic levels, ‘All You Need Is Kill, ‘Mercy,’ ‘Send Help’ and ‘Shelter’ are going to have to perform big.”
