‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ still No. 1 in fifth week at box office

LOS ANGELES – “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is still the top-grossing movie at the box office in its fifth week, clearing another $13.3 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The third film in director James Cameron’s science fiction series has made over $1.3 billion globally, an impressive total but short of the pace of its landmark predecessors. The original “Avatar,” released in 2009, remains the highest grossing film of all time with over $2.9 billion in worldwide box office receipts. The first sequel, 2022’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” is third all-time with over $2.3 billion.

Second place this weekend went to “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which opened with $13 million, Comscore reported.

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Ralph Fiennes in a scene from “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.” (Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures via AP)

“Zootopia 2” continued its impressive run, making $8.7 million in its eighth weekend in theaters.

“The Housemaid” was fourth with $8.5 million Friday through Sunday in its fifth weekend, followed by “Marty Supreme” with $5.4 million in its fifth week.

The horror film “Primate” was sixth with $5 million in its second weekend.

A re-release of director Peter Jackson’s 2001 epic, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” earned seventh place with $3.5 million.

Fathom Entertainment re-released all three films in Jackson’s award-winning “Rings” trilogy this weekend, and 2002’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” claimed 10th place with $2.4 million. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” which was released in 2003 and won the Academy Award for best picture, was set for its re-release Sunday.

Also this weekend, “Greenland 2: Migration” took eighth place with $3.3 million in its second week, followed by “Anaconda,” which grossed $3.2 million in its fourth week.

This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $84.9 million. The year-to-date total is $447.7 million — up 20% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.

’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’

“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” may have scored well with critics, but slightly more moviegoing audiences chose to spend the holiday weekend catching up with “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

The Walt Disney Co. also celebrated another win as their Thanksgiving release “Zootopia 2” became the highest grossing animated Motion Picture Association release of all time.

Meanwhile “The Bone Temple,” directed by Nia DaCosta, landed in second place with $13 million through Sunday. By the end of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, it’s expected to be at $15 million, still trailing “Avatar’s” projected $17.2 million.

The film, released by Sony Pictures and starring Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell, opened wide this weekend in 3,506 theaters on a wave of hype and strong reviews. It currently has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 72% of audiences said in a PostTrak poll that they would “definitely recommend” the movie.

Considering it’s also solidly in the horror genre and arriving in January, often a dumping ground for lesser movies, “The Bone Temple” should have done better. Internationally, it made $16.2 million from 61 markets.

But perhaps in a case of too much too soon, the sequel also comes less than a year after the previous installment, “28 Years Later,” which opened to $30 million in June. Going into the weekend, “The Bone Temple” was expected to make at least $20 million through Monday. With a reported $63 million production budget, not including marketing and promotion, it also has a long journey to break even.

“It’s one of those head-scratchers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Comscore. “There may be a little bit of confusion from audiences. But word-of-mouth might sustain it in this marketplace, like we saw with ‘The Housemaid’ and ‘Zootopia 2.’”
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, the team who started it all with “28 Days Later,” which came out in 2002, are also working on a third installment.

Third place went to “Zootopia 2,” with $8.8 million in its eighth weekend. With global grosses currently at $1.7 billion, it surpassed “Inside Out 2” as the highest grossing MPA animated release of all time. The MPA distinction means that the Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2,” which has made over $2.2 billion, is not included in the rankings.

“Zootopia 2” is also now the ninth biggest global release of all time
“The Housemaid,” one of the other major blockbusters of late, landed in fourth place with $8.5 million. Made for only $35 million, the Lionsgate release has grossed nearly $250 million worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was “Marty Supreme,” which became A24’s highest grossing North American release with a running gross of $79.7 million, unseating “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Josh Safdie’s mid-century adrenaline rush may get another boost after Oscar nominations are announced Thursday.

“Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers” were also back in theaters this weekend and both in the top 10, grossing $3.6 million and $2.4 million respectively.

Outside of the top 10, Focus Features’ “Hamnet,” which won best drama and best female actor for Jessie Buckley at the Golden Globes last weekend and is considered another top Oscar contender, expanded to 718 locations this weekend where it made $1.3 million through Sunday. (With CNS and AP reports)

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