Weekend Box Office: Avatar dominates while Zootopia 2 narrowly edges out Marty Surpreme

Christmas time is here again—and just in the nick of time for beleaguered cinema exhibitors who’ve been starved for hit movies. While last weekend’s opening suggested James Cameron’s Avatar franchise might be running out of steam, the third film, Fire and Ash, rallied spectacularly over the holiday period.

This weekend it grossed $64 million, which is only a 28% week-to-week decline, for a hefty $217 million domestic tally. Internationally, it’s been a juggernaut, with the film bound to pass the $600 million mark worldwide by the end of the weekend. While it may not equal the success of the last two films, given the way the industry has crashed in recent years, it’s a stretch to think of Avatar: Fire and Ash as anything but a hit, with its performance likely justifying at least one more film in the franchise for Disney and 20th Century Studios. Just as we predicted, the franchise is still clearly a global cash cow.

Zootopia 2 and Prestige Counterprogramming Win Big

Second place at the weekend box office proved to be a surprise, with Disney’s Zootopia 2 actually making 35% more this weekend than last, earning $20 million and bringing its domestic total to a hefty $321 million. Overseas, it’s closing in on the $1.5 billion mark.

A24 also scored one of the only prestige movie hits of the year, with Marty Supreme nailing third place with $17.5 million. Thanks to its brisk box office on Christmas Day, it’s crossed the $28 million mark, performing similarly to Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, another counterprogramming hit last year. Expect star Timothée Chalamet’s box-office cachet to skyrocket once studio heads realize his movies reliably turn a profit, regardless of genre—making him one of the few legit movie stars of his era.

Sydney Sweeney Scores Another Solid Hit

Another burgeoning movie star, Sydney Sweeney, is likely breathing a sigh of relief, with her film The Housemaid proving a solid hit for Lionsgate. It only lost 19% of its audience in week two, earning $15.4 million this weekend for a $46 million total.

With the holidays continuing all week, it has a good chance of equaling—or even surpassing—the $88 million her last big hit, Anyone But You, made over the same period. Given how overexposed she may have seemed, with her passion project Christy a major flop, The Housemaid proves that in the right movie, she’s still a major draw.

Anaconda Underperforms as Competition Heats Up

One movie that didn’t do the business many expected is Sony’s Anaconda reboot. The Jack Black and Paul Rudd-led film made $14.5 million in fifth place, for a $23.6 million total so far. Its thunder has arguably been stolen by Marty Supreme and The Housemaid, while teens who might have checked it out have instead been sidetracked by Avatar.

Angel Studios also has a solid hit with its faith-based animated movie David, which made $12.69 million this weekend for a domestic haul closing in on $50 million. It’s performed far better than Paramount’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: The Search for SquarePants, which earned $11.2 million for a modest (for a major studio release) $38 million total.

Late-Season Releases Wrap Up Their Runs

Sadly, a pretty good holiday release—Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson—is underperforming, having made just $7.6 million this weekend for a $12 million domestic total so far. The silver lining is that, besides Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another, it’s performed better than nearly every other prestige release this fall.

Wicked: For Good, which drops on digital this Tuesday, is beginning to wrap up its run with $5.6 million this weekend, pushing it toward a $331 million gross. Meanwhile, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (now on VOD) added another $4.4 millionfor a $118 million total. It should fall just shy of the $137 million the original made two years ago, easily paving the way for a third film.

What have you watched over the holiday period? Let us know in the comments!

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