This image released by 20th Century Studios shows Varang, performed by Oona Chaplin, in a scene from “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” (20th Century Studios via AP)
LOS ANGELES – “Avatar: Fire and Ash” kept its box office crown and picked up a little momentum in its second weekend in North American theaters, raking in another $64 million, according to industry estimates.
The third film in director James Cameron’s science fiction series saw little drop-off from its $88 million opening weekend and easily outpaced “Zootopia 2,” which made $20 million in its fifth weekend.
“Marty Supreme” was third with $17.5 million Friday through Sunday in its first weekend of wide release, Comscore reported.
“The Housemaid” took fourth place with $15.4 million in its second weekend, followed by “Anaconda,” which opened with $14.5 million.
“David,” Angel Studios’ animated, faith-based telling of the Old Testament story, grossed $12.6 million in its second weekend.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants” ($11.2 million), “Song Sung Blue” ($7.6 million),
“Wicked: For Good” ($5.2 million) and “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” ($4.4 million).
A turbulent year
This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $177.2 million. The year-to-date total is $8.763 billion — up 1.5% from the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.
Hollywood wrapped up a turbulent year with big ticket sales for “Avatar: Fire and Ash” and a box-office hit for Timothée Chalamet with “Marty Supreme” over a busy holiday weekend in movie theaters.
As expected, James Cameron’s latest trip to Pandora dominated ticket sales, collecting $88 million over the four-day Christmas-to-Sunday period and $64 million on the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Though “Fire and Ash” initially opened notably softer domestically than its 2022 predecessor, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” it held better in its second weekend. It dipped just 28%, whereas “Way of Water” fell 53%.
In two weeks, “Fire and Ash” has quickly amassed $217.7 million in North America for The Walt Disney Company. But the $400 million-budgeted film has been a massive draw internationally, grossing $542.7 million thus far overseas. To reach the box-office heights of the previous films, both of which rank among the biggest blockbusters ever, “Fire and Ash” will need to sustain business through New Year’s and early January. If it does, “Avatar” could become the first franchise with three $2 billion movies.
Best Christmas Day box office
Hollywood is ending the year with its best Christmas Day box office since before the COVID-19 pandemic, a celebratory final note in what’s been a rough year for the film industry. Going into the year, expectations were high for the industry’s first year this decade not marred by pandemic or strike.
“It was a really solid end to a tumultuous year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride. I think the best news for the industry — I know we kind of say this every year — but if you look at the lineup for 2026, it’s pretty incredible.”
But domestic ticket sales on the year are ending roughly on par with the disappointing $8.75 billion in 2024. With three days left in 2025, the box-office total is $8.76 billion, according to Comscore. By comparison, in 2019, that total was $11.4 billion.
(With CNS and AP reports)
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